Starmer launches leak inquiry into ‘hostile briefing’ against Sue Gray
Sir Keir Starmer has launched a leak inquiry into “hostile briefing” against Sue Gray after it was revealed that she earns more than the Prime Minister.
Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, has reportedly been asked to look into the story about Sir Keir’s chief of staff after it “went off like a stink bomb in No 10”.
On Thursday, the BBC revealed that Ms Gray is taking a taxpayer-funded salary of £170,000 – meaning she is on £3,000 more than the Prime Minister. Previously, the top band for special advisers was £140,000 to £145,000.
It was claimed she was asked to take a pay cut to avoid “this very story”, but declined. A Government source close to Ms Gray told the BBC the allegation was “categorically untrue” and that she had “had no involvement in any decision on her pay”.
Mr Case, the most senior civil servant in Whitehall, has been called in to investigate, according to BBC Newsnight.
Nick Watt, the programme’s political editor, said: “As I understand it, that story went off like a stink bomb in No 10 and across wider Whitehall, because it was seen this is clearly some hostile briefing against Sue Gray.
“As I understand it, in the last few hours this has now gone all the way to the top. The Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, has been called in to sort of look at this. But the view is that there’s only one person who can sort that out, and that one person is Keir Starmer.”
A Cabinet Office spokesman said on Thursday: “It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay. Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials, not political appointees.
“As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets.”
The revelations have led to questions about the balance of power in No 10 amid claims that Ms Gray is an “extremely powerful” chief of staff.
Contrasting her pay with the winter fuel raid on 10 million pensioners, a senior figure told The Times: “Sue Gray is the only pensioner better off under Labour.”
One Whitehall source told The Telegraph they had been left “speechless” by her salary.
Speaking to the BBC, another source said: “It speaks to the dysfunctional way No 10 is being run – no political judgment, an increasingly grand Sue who considers herself to be the deputy prime minister, hence the salary, and no other voice for the Prime Minister to hear as everything gets run through Sue.”
It comes as Sir Keir faces scrutiny over donations he has accepted as an MP, having declared more free tickets and gifts than any other major party leader in recent times.
On Thursday, The Telegraph revealed that he repeatedly used an £18 million penthouse owned by Lord Alli, the top Labour donor, while campaigning to enter No 10.
The media mogul has also donated money towards tens of thousands of pounds worth of suits and spectacles to Sir Keir and £5,000 towards clothes and personal shopping to Lady Starmer.
