Cassani's free role

Britain's IOC member Craig Reedie was today desperately trying to play down the significance of project manager Jane Willacy's fierce attack on bid leader Seb Coe in a resignation letter yesterday, calling it a "storm in a tea cup".

But the news has already gone around the world that the British are arguing among themselves with Willacy announcing that London needs a "leader who will understand what needs to be fought for in a winning bid and has the stamina and guts to fight for it."

Officials at rivals Paris must have been reaching for the corkscrew last night and raising a glass of the very best " schadenfreude" to their friends across the Channel who appear to be helping France stage the most prestigious sporting event on the planet.

If there is much more of this whingeing in public in the next 12 months, the only way Londoners will see the Olympics live in 2012 is by taking the Eurostar to the French capital.

Willacy was a great supporter of former bid leader Barbara Cassani. She was annoyed the former airline chief executive has been reluctantly forced to scale down her work for the bid since stepping down as chairwoman in May.

Now, Cassani's role has been reduced to just one day a week, for which she will not be paid.

Willacy claims the departure of Cassani has caused " pandemonium" and that London 2012 is divided by internal power feuds.

It is questionable, however, whether morale is as low as Willacy claims in the 50th floor offices of 1 Canada Square in Canary Wharf. One official claimed today the bid was not always a "happy ship" under Cassani.

The former chief executive of no-frills airline Go was accused of having a domineering style which "made it very difficult for anyone else to manage."

It appears that, even after resigning the top job, the American businesswoman had to be persuaded by Lord Coe and chief executive Keith Mills to stop trying to run the bid.

Cassani has been portrayed as an emotional figure. One of the reasons she gave up the role was she did not like the media attention that went with it.

All this, of course, could just be the kind of back-biting which is routine in offices across London.

Certainly the Boston-born executive did a creditable job in getting the bid off the ground last year. She also took on the role with an excellent reputation in the business world for getting things done and motivating staff.

But the pros and cons of Cassani's no-nonsense style should not be the issue. What London 2012 and the Government need to worry about is that IOC members across the world are reading about allegations that Coe is not a serious manager and that the public relations campaign and the show of government/public support is not adequate.

That perception could damage London's chances if it becomes a talking point when IOC members gather at the Athens Olympics.

One seasoned Olympic insider said: "The problem is London has not really progressed from its third position behind Paris and Madrid since the first IOC report came out in May.

"London has the power to win because it has a cluster of votes. But the bid has to do something."

Mills, Coe and communications director Mike Lee have been working hard to lobby IOC members in recent months and they are making ground. But it is time for Blair to stamp his mark on the campaign and give it a boost at a crucial time.

The bid desperately needs a serious figure who can speak foreign languages. The Prime Minister should call on the multilingual Christopher Meyer, his favourite diplomat and former man in Washington, to take a break from his job at the Press Complaints Commission and join the campaign.

French President Jacques Chirac would not hesitate in similar circumstances.

The failure or success of London's bid won't determine the outcome of the next general election, which could take place close to the Olympic vote.

But Blair knows a poor showing in the Singapore vote or a troublesome campaign will not help the feel-good factor when the country heads to the polling booths.