Partygate: Sir Keir Starmer could have ‘serious questions to answer’ if Labour spoke to Sue Gray during Boris Johnson probe
Sir Keir Starmer could have “serious questions to answer” if he was talking to Sue Gray while she was advising the MPs investigating partygate, a senior minister has told Sky News.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was speaking as the cabinet office is set to publish an “update into the circumstances leading to the resignation of a senior civil servant” later today – which is understood to be about Ms Gray’s shift to Labour.
Reports overnight claim the former senior civil servant held talks with Labour while she was still part of the propriety and ethics team, which advised the committee of MPs looking into COVID gatherings inside Number 10.
Cleverly denies being a NIMBY over migrant housing – politics latest
Mr Cleverly said: “I haven’t seen the report, it’s a completely independent report, it’s the body that looks at senior appointment.
“If that is what the report says, I do think Keir Starmer has got some serious questions to answer.”
Labour has disputed the account, however, with one source telling Sky News: “The propriety and ethics team handled requests from the privileges committee, reporting to minister for cabinet office, Jeremy Quin.
“Sue Gray was not working in that team.”
Sky News revealed earlier this year that Sir Keir was considering appointing Ms Gray as his chief of staff.
The report coming out from government today will inform a decision made by the appointments watchdog ACOBA (advisory committee on business appointments), which will collate its own evidence and then make a suggestion for the amount of time Ms Gray should take as gardening leave before joining the leader of the opposition’s team.
Click to subscribe to the Sophy Ridge on Sunday podcast
Ms Gray came to the fore when she led the Cabinet Office inquiry to establish what happened in Downing Street during the pandemic, putting together what became known as the “Sue Gray report“.
She was previously the director general of the government’s propriety and ethics team between 2012 and 2018, and was then second permanent secretary to the cabinet office between 2021 and 2023, having worked with the Northern Ireland office team in the interim.
Read more:
Sue Gray report key findings
Five striking moments from partygate evidence
Her independence and neutrality was touted by the government and Conservative MPs during the preparation and publication of her report into partygate, which found “failures of leadership and judgment” across both Number 10 and the cabinet office.
During her investigations, evidence was handed to the Metropolitan Police, leading to Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson getting fined.
Last summer, the privileges committee opened an inquiry into the conduct of Mr Johnson in Downing Street during the pandemic, and it is the overlap between any contact Ms Gray had with this probe and her communications with Labour that Conservatives want to know more about.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘We are not relying on the Sue Gray material’
In a blockbuster evidence session in March, Mr Johnson repeatedly questioned the fact that Sue Gray had recently announced her move to Labour and questioned the veracity of her evidence.
Labour’s Harriet Harman, who is chairing the inquiry, said the committee is not relying on any material from Ms Gray’s report “and nor will we”, adding she is not a witness in their inquiry.
Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, told Sky News there is a “process” to follow, and civil servants have left to work with political parties before.
Rory McIlroy has completed a career Grand Slam in golf with his win at the US Masters tournament.
The Masters was the last major tournament left for McIlroy to complete the modern golf Grand Slam – a feat only five others have managed before him.
McIlroy, who was making his 11th attempt at completing the Grand Slam, faced off Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to decide the Masters champion, after they finished tied on 11 under at the end of regulation on Sunday.
McIlroy reacts as he wins. Pic: AP
McIlroy reacts after winning against Justin Rose at the Masters. Pic: AP
“It’s my 17th time here and I started to wonder if it would ever be my time,” McIlroy said just before slipping on the Green Jacket during the presentation ceremony.
“I’m just absolutely honoured and thrilled and just so proud to be able to call myself a Masters champion.”
McIlroy had missed his six-foot putt for par, a bogey which dropped him back to 11 under, where he joined Rose – leading to a dramatic play-off between the two.
Only five other golfers have been able to complete a career Grand Slam, including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.
Pic: AP
McIlroy is a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, claiming the prize in 2012 and 2014.
The 35-year-old also won his first major title, the US Open, in 2011, and won The Open Championship in 2014.
How did McIlroy get to the victory?
McIlroy recovered from losing his overnight two-shot advantage with an opening-hole double bogey to initially take control at Augusta National, only to blow a four-shot lead over his closing six holes.
The world No 2 bogeyed the last to close a one-over 73 and slip back to 11 under alongside Rose, who overturned a seven-stroke deficit and posted a stunning final-round 66 to force a play-off.
The players returned to the 18th for the play-off, where McIlroy made amends for his 72nd-hole blunder by firing a stunning approach to within three feet of the pin and making the birdie putt required for a life-changing win.
UK
Race to keep British Steel furnaces running with last-minute efforts to secure raw materials under way
Last-minute efforts to keep British Steel operating are to be carried out today, as the plant races to secure a supply of raw materials.
The Department for Business and Trade said officials are working to secure supplies of materials, including coking coal, to keep British Steel operational, as well as to ensure all staff will be paid.
It added that setting up new supply chains was “crucial” as a fall in blast furnace temperature could risk “irreparable damage to the site, with the steel setting and scarring the machinery”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
British Steel: What happens next?
Companies including Tata – which ran the now-closed Port Talbot steelworks – and Rainham Steel have offered managerial support and materials to keep the Lincolnshire site running.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement that “when I said steelmaking has a future in the UK, I meant it”.
“Steel is vital for our national security and our ambitious plans for the housing, infrastructure and manufacturing sectors in the UK,” he added.
“We will set out a long-term plan to co-invest with the private sector to ensure steel in the UK has a bright and sustainable future.”
Unions said Jingye decided to cancel orders of key materials for the steelworks
Earlier this month, unions said the steelwork’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, decided to cancel future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
It meant the Scunthorpe plant had been on course to close down by May, bit it sparked urgent calls for government intervention.
Emergency legislation was passed on Saturday bringing the steelworks into effective government control, and officials were on site as soon as the new legislation came into force.
However, the business secretary has warned that does not mean the plant is guaranteed to survive.
Appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds also said he would not bring a Chinese company into the “sensitive” steel sector again.
“I don’t know… the Boris Johnson government when they did this, what exactly the situation was,” he added. “But I think it’s a sensitive area.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I wouldn’t bring a Chinese company into our steel sector’
Jingye stepped in with a deal to buy British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant out of insolvency in 2020, when Mr Johnson was prime minister.
The minister added that while The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill stops short of the full nationalisation of British Steel, “to be frank, as I said to parliament yesterday, it is perhaps at this stage the likely option”.
The Conservatives accused the government of acting “too late” and implementing a “botched nationalisation” after ignoring warnings about the risk to the steelworks.
Read more:
A sticking plaster, not a solution: What next for British Steel?
How Trump, China and Reform all played their part
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “The Labour Government have landed themselves in a steel crisis entirely of their own making.
“They’ve made poor decisions and let the unions dictate their actions.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway