Mr Gove and Mr Wormald had been recalled to answer questions about a senior civil servant's allegations of bullying by one of the secretary of state's special advisers, Dominic Cummings, and James Frayne, his department's former head of communications.

BBC: Gove 'not informed of bullying adviser claim', MPs told

McDougal has been held in a Los Angeles county jail while she awaits trial on local charges but is under federal custody for civil contempt for refusing to answer questions before a Whitewater grand jury in Little Rock, Ark.

CNN: AllPolitics - Starr Will Not Have To Appear In Santa Monica Court

The chief justice is the gatekeeper of sorts, keeping the debate civil and ensuring one justice does not step on another and that a lawyer has time to answer the question.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The answer lies in a huge yet barely acknowledged shift of power within government: from the civil-service machine to ministerial personal advisers and spin-doctors.

ECONOMIST: Rumour, tittle-tattle and gossip