Reds and volleys: Keir Starmer lets off steam on the football pitch amid Sue Gray furore

Keir Starmer repeatedly refused to say today when he offered a Labor job to an official investigating Boris Johnson’s Partygate breach of law.

The 60-year-old opposition leader, pictured taking part in his regular five-a-side match at the weekend, faced questions over Sue Gray’s appointment as his new chief of staff.

Sir Keir evaded questions this morning about when he first approached Mrs Gray, a senior official at the Cabinet Office.

He insisted he had “absolutely no contact” with her when she prepared her report last year, amid questions about her impartiality from appalled Tories.

On a call on LBC Radio, Sir Keir said: “I’ve been looking for a chief of staff for some time now, but Sue will explain, but there’s nothing inappropriate at all.”

He added: “Sue Gray is known for her integrity, she is known for her achievements in government, and those are two things that I think are essential for an incoming Labor government if we are given the privilege to to be voted on.’

Meanwhile, one of his senior frontbench teams accused the Tories of ‘sour grapes’ as she claimed her appointment showed she was biased against Mr Johnson, who was given a police fine for attending a party during the Covid lockdown.

Sir Keir evaded questions this morning about when he first approached Mrs Gray, a senior official at the Cabinet Office.

Meanwhile, Wes Streeting accused the Tories of ‘sour grapes’ over claims her appointment showed she was biased against Mr Johnson, who was given a police fine for attending a party during the Covid lockdown.

Sue Gray was a senior Cabinet Office official who prepared a report on Johnson’s Partygate breach of law when he was Prime Minister. She resigned last week to work for Labor

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News: “She was asked by Boris Johnson to investigate. He praised her integrity when he asked her to do it, as did many decent Conservatives in recent days, for that matter, who said, “Wait a minute, Conservative colleagues, calm down. This is not unusual’.

And she is a professional civil servant who has worked well with Labor and Conservative ministers. She has not betrayed any trust, there is no reason to expect that she will now.

“I can understand why there are some sour grapes that good people want to work with Labor now, because they hope and think we could be the next government.”

But a top official has privately expressed concern that Ms Gray has breached impartiality rules by holding secret meetings with Sir Keir Starmer, it was alleged last night.

Susan Acland-Hood, permanent secretary at the Department of Education, is said to have voiced her concerns in an online Zoom call with colleagues.

The Telegraph reported that while reminding other officials of their duty of impartiality, she said Sue Gray becoming Sir Keir’s chief of staff “is a real challenge to act in a way that earns and retains the confidence of ministers”.

The permanent secretary role is the highest-ranking official in a government department.

Ms Acland-Hood reportedly went through the civil service code of impartiality line by line, telling colleagues: “People say there’s a problem with this appointment because if Sue has ever had Labour-type political beliefs in her career If you haven’t been a decent public servant, don’t understand that what the civil service law requires is not that we have no political beliefs, but that we don’t allow our political beliefs to interfere with the way we do our jobs to influence. ‘

Ms Acland-Hood concluded with a strong warning that “if anyone receives contact from the Leader of the Opposition or a member of the Shadow Cabinet, you must tell your Permanent Secretary immediately.”

Ms Gray is confronted with the question of whether she met this requirement according to the code of conduct of the civil service.

However, a cabinet minister today said she had ‘no reason to believe’ that Ms Gray was not impartial when investigating parties breaking lockdown in Downing Street.

Michelle Donelan, the science secretary, told Sky News: “She was a senior civil servant who clearly swore and accepted the code of civil service, in which impartiality is one of those key requirements.”

Asked if Mrs. Gray was impartial, Mrs. Donelan said, “I have no reason to believe she was not.”

The circumstances of Ms Gray’s appointment to the office of Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer need to be looked at, the minister added.

“I think what people are mostly concerned about here is what process has taken place for her to get this new job, did conversations happen when they possibly shouldn’t have happened, etc? These are the questions that need to be looked at and answered.’