So, in theory, yes, if the government wants a commercial banker to succeed Sir Mervyn King at the Bank in June next year (which is a persistent rumour) Varley would be a candidate.
But there is a persistent rumour that late 2017 or even early 2018 is more likely, partly because it could take Whitehall at least that long to be ready before triggering the two-year exit talks, and partly because Dutch, French and German elections will get in the way.
There is a persistent rumour that the Birkenhead was carrying a military payroll of £240,000 in gold coins weighing about three tons, which had been secretly stored in the powder-room before the final voyage.
Multitasking is a persistent myth.
"Games are a persistent, connective tissue.
Mr Tadic has been denying persistent rumours of his ill health but he is not the man that Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister, once dubbed "President Clooney" because of his resemblance to the American heart-throb.He is likely to look even more haggard after a referendum on February 14th-15th in the four Serb-dominated municipalities of northern Kosovo.
"For most of my adult life, there have been persistent rumours about who was either involved, or knew of what was going on but said nothing," he said.
While the results of Thursday's elections were not catastrophic, with the party's share of the vote up marginally from last year's general election, most observers, including a number of frontbenchers, believe a Labour government in 2020 remains an unlikely prospect, and there have been persistent rumours that several MPs are manoeuvring against Corbyn.
There have been persistent rumours in recent days that Schumacher was to be removed from the Grenoble hospital and brought to a specially equipped room at his home between Lausanne and Geneva.
