The first key appointments to Gordon Brown’s Downing Street team were confirmed yesterday as a removal van began carting away Tony Blair’s possessions from No 10.

Removal teams began packing Mr Blair’s home for the past ten years into crates for storage almost as soon as he had left for the G8 summit in Germany.

Although the Prime Minister will not resign formally until June 27, No 10 confirmed that the removal van seen behind Downing Street had been booked for his use.

While Mr Blair’s furniture was being packed up his successor signalled an end to “sofa government”, one of the hall-marks of Mr Blair’s administration. Mr Brown’s allies said that the appointment of two senior Whitehall officials as his principal international relations advisers underlined his commitment to restoring civil service expertise at the heart of No 10 decision-making.

The decision to replace Sir Nigel Sheinwald with Simon McDonald as chief foreign policy adviser also reflects Mr Brown’s determination to provide continuity on Iraq.

Mr McDonald, 46, a former British Ambassador to Israel, is head of Iraq policy at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He was previously principal private secretary to Jack Straw in 2003 when the minister was Foreign Secretary.

He will be joined at No 10 by Jon Cunliffe, the second permanent secretary at the Treasury, who will take over from Kim Darroch as adviser on the European Union.

Both appointments have been made by Sir Gus O’Donnell. The Cabinet Secretary has also selected a third senior Whitehall official – as yet unnamed – to help to ensure that departments work smoothly together in the Cabinet Office.

Mr Brown is expected to confirm soon two other appointments: Mike Ellam as his official spokesman and Tom Scholar as his chief of staff. Both men currently work at the Treasury.

Mr Brown has chosen not to chair tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting in the absence of Mr Blair and John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Straw, the Leader of the House, will do it instead.

Mr Prescott, 69, who is being treated for pneumonia, was said to be “laughing and joking” by his son, David, after he visited him at the high-dependency unit at University College Hospital, London. Doctors also described Mr Prescott’s condition as stable. He fell ill while travelling from his Hull constituency to London. He had just returned from a tour of the United States and the Caribbean. A doctor said that Mr Prescott would need a month to recover, suggesting that the Deputy Prime Minister may not return to work before his retirement date of June 27.

Mr Blair’s departure appears to have been complicated by continuing building work at his new home at Connaught Square, near Marble Arch.

That the Blairs’ furniture is being taken into storage indicates that they will be unable to move immediately into the house, which they bought for £3.6 million in 2004.

Although Mr Blair’s address is No 10 Downing Street he and his family live in the flat above No 11, traditionally the residence of the Chancellor. Mr Brown agreed to switch with the Blairs to allow them more space but he is expected to move back once he becomes prime minister.

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