You're wrongly assuming that it did come from a lowly member of staff. You'd be be surprised if you knew who it came from. Although as they didn't say it to me personally it was just reported speech. That's how these 'ITK' rumours, from supposedly impeccable senior sources, start.
Yes.
But really unless you've actually been told something specifically and directly by Tony Bloom, Dick Knight, etc, then all you've really heard is just glorified office gossip. This was bought home to me when Micky Adams left (1st time). One of my contacts, who had told me a lot of reliable...