"It is unbelievable that Keir Starmer has emphatically proposed to take on Sue Gray as his Chief of Staff. This is the question I asked in the House of Commons yesterday. Those who want to read further can access Hansard to see the full discussion - https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-03-06/debates/122E8FF7-59BC-4FDA-ACBB-9A5E3893331C/CivilServiceImpartiality "
Sir William Cash
(Stone) (Con)
Is my right hon. Friend aware whether a contract, written or unwritten, has been entered into between the parties concerned? This important question asked by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for South Swindon (Sir Robert Buckland) raises questions not only of constitutional propriety and impartiality, but of confidentiality between the persons concerned. Furthermore, I would like to know whether there is any question of any involvement of taxpayers’ money in these arrangements, as part of the Short money that will be involved in the office of the Leader of the Opposition.
Jeremy Quin
(Horsham) (Con) (The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General)
As my hon. Friend will appreciate, I am in no position to know whether there is a contract, either oral or written, between Sue Gray and the Labour party. Nor am I in any position to judge how her putative post, if it were to go through, would be funded. Those are both questions that can only be answered by those on the Opposition side of the House, and it would be in the interest of transparency and clarity if they were to be cleared up, along with a timeline of events on when the meetings started, who took part and where they took place.
