Sir Robin retires at the end of the year, to be replaced by Sir Richard Wilson, permanent secretary at the Home Office and a more modern sort of mandarin.

ECONOMIST: Struggling for the prince��s ear

Only Sir John Chilcot, who retired as permanent under-secretary of the Northern Ireland office on the day the commission was announced, is not on record with a view.

ECONOMIST: Electoral reform: Jenkins’ ear | The

Sir John Chilcot, 70, is a former permanent under-secretary of state at the Northern Ireland Office and has been chairman since 2001 of the Police Foundation and sat on the Butler Inquiry into the intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

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