By The Guardian (World News) | Created at 2024-09-22 23:05:14 | Updated at 2024-09-30 07:35:29
1 week ago
Wes Streeting has joked that Keir Starmer’s embattled senior aide Sue Gray also “shot JFK” and was “hiding Lord Lucan” amid a continuing row over her salary.
The health secretary made light of suggestions of mounting acrimony at the heart of government as he spoke at an event on the sidelines of the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Speaking to a crowd at the gathering hosted by thinktank Labour Together, Streeting said: “I want to welcome the BBC’s conviction that no one should be paid more than the prime minister, that no one should receive hospitality, and that we should judge performance on social media mentions.
“Be careful what we wish for, comrades.”
He added: “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Sue Gray is hiding Lord Lucan and shot JFK, and I can’t even tell you what she did to Shergar. I don’t know how we’re going to recover from this, frankly.”
In recent weeks, Gray has been the subject of a series of anonymous briefings signalling discontent within Downing Street just weeks into the new administration.
Leaks about her £170,000 salary have contributed to reports of a fractious atmosphere inside No 10 less than three months after Labour came to power.
Labour officials have also moved to deny reports that Angela Rayner hired a “vanity photographer” at the taxpayer’s expense.
The Daily Mail reported that Rayner, who is the deputy prime minister and also housing secretary, had hired a photographer to record her work.
But the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the photographer had been hired to chronicle the work of the department, not just Rayner. “Many government departments employ official photographers to share the work of the department and ministers with the public,” the department said.
“This is a civil service role and will be part of MHCLG’s communications team.”
The junior civil servant employed in the role is understood to be paid within the grade 7 band, which has a minimum salary of £57,000 a year. Rayner was not involved in the recruitment process for the photographer, the PA news agency understands.
The row over Gray, alongside a lingering backlash over the acceptance of luxury gifts from wealthy donors by senior MPs, had threatened to overshadow Labour’s annual conference.
Starmer has insisted he is “completely in control” despite the briefings, while Rayner earlier on Sunday said she was angered by attempts “to demonise workers in their workplace through the press and the media”.
