New face at White House

President Bill Clinton is moving to beef up his White House operation by bringing in Roy Neel, a veteran of congressional politics, as a second deputy Chief of Staff, Rupert Cornwell writes from Washington.

Mr Neel, the senior aide of Vice-President Al Gore, is expected to move into the West Wing, where he will work directly under Thomas McLarty, the Chief of Staff, a close friend of Mr Clinton since their boyhood days in Arkansas. A key part of Mr Neel's brief will be to improve relations with Capitol Hill.