Keir Starmer insists he is ‘completely in control’ of his own government amid Sue Gray row

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Sir Keir Starmer insists that he is in “complete control” of his government as he heads to his party conference on Sunday mired in controversy over the salary of his chief of staff and the acceptance of luxury gifts by himself and his wife.

The PM gave a round of interviews on Thursday with regional broadcasters ahead of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool with questions over his decision to accept more than £100,000 in gifts, the role of Sue Gray and a continued row about the cutting of winter fuel payments to pensioners.

Concerns over the power of Ms Gray in government were raised again this week when it was revealed she is paid more as chief of staff than the prime minister.

On Wednesday, the BBC revealed it had been told that Ms Gray asked for and was given a salary of £170,000 after July’s election, about £3,000 more than Sir Keir.

Already there had been surprise over her influence in making appointments to senior jobs and her presence on his trip to Washington DC last week to discuss the war in Ukraine and Middle East with Joe Biden.

Pressed on Ms Gray’s pay by BBC South East’s political editor Charlotte Wright, the prime minister said he was “not going to get into discussions about individual salaries”.

But when he was asked about the anonymous briefings and whether he was in control of his team, he said: “I’m completely in control. I’m focused and every day the message from me to the team is exactly the same, which is we have to deliver.”

The prime minister was also questioned over Arsenal’s gift of a private box, worth more than £8,000 a match, for him to watch home games. Sir Keir described the move as “common sense” because for security reasons he is no longer able to use his season tickets in the stands.

Asked by BBC Yorkshire’s political editor James Vincent how relatable it was for him to get access to a corporate area, he said: “Since I’ve been prime minister the security advice is don’t go in the stands, not least because it’ll cost a fortune to the taxpayer in security police officers if you choose to go in the stands.”

He continued: “I’ve taken that advice, I’ve been offered a ticket somewhere else. Frankly I’d rather be in the stands but I’m not going to ask the taxpayer to indulge me to be in the stands when I could go and sit somewhere else where the club and the security say it’s safer for me to be. That is for me a common sense situation.

“I’m a life-long Arsenal fan. I’ve been going for years and years and years and it’s a real passion of mine and I can go with my boy.”

But following the row over a donation by Labour peer Waheed Alli for his wife Victoria to buy £5,000 of dresses, the PM appeared to sidestep questions over whether he bought his own suits.

Lord Alli, who has made a number of other donations, was given a temporary security pass to Downing Street after the election and has been allowed to attend cabinet meetings.

Sir Keir was asked by the BBC Northern Ireland’s political editor Enda McCafferty: “Why don't you buy your own suits? Some people are asking out there, why the does the prime minister need to get his wardrobe sponsored?”

He responded: “The important thing in all of this is that we follow the rules, which is really important to me and make the declarations so that everything is transparent. I'm utterly focussed day in day out actually on how we make the economy work for everyone, how do we get the health service in the place that we need it.”

Asked by BBC West’s David Garmston if “mud is being thrown” over donations and freebies, the prime minister batted back: “I want to tell you what my focus is because we’re now 11 weeks or so into the new government.”

Sir Keir was also interrogated over his decision to cut winter fuel payments to pensioners but continued to blame the £22bn black hole in the finances he says the Tories left behind.