Is Seumas Milne’s Guardian ‘leave’ coming to an end?

When Seumas Milne — the Guardian associate editor and columnist — was hired as Jeremy Corbyn’s director of communications, Labour released a statement in which they made it clear that Milne would remain on ‘indefinite leave’ from the paper while he worked for the party. The arrangement raised eyebrows at the paper and proved to be a point of contention as Milne has made it clear that he takes issue with the Guardian‘s political coverage.

Now it appears that things are coming to a head. The Times reports that senior executives at the Guardian are to urge Milne to step down from his role. They want him to take voluntary redundancy, as they seek to make 100 journalists redundant in a savings strategy. ‘There is no way he can come back and write a column after serving for Corbyn,’ one source says. Word reaches Steerpike that the Scott Trust — which is the sole shareholder in Guardian Media Group — has also raised the issue.