How Starmer was forced to say 'I'm in control' over Sue Gray pay row

Sir Keir Starmer was forced to insist he was 'completely in ­control' yesterday as his fledging ­government became bogged down in scandal and in-fighting.

The under-siege Prime Minister refused to answer questions about why his controversial chief of staff, Sue Gray, was now paid more than him.

In the latest in an embarrassing string of leaks and toxic briefings from within Downing Street, it was revealed this week that a post-election pay rise saw Ms Gray's salary rise to £170,000, £3,000 more than that of the PM.

The revelation highlights tensions at the top of the new Labour government ­following reports of clashes between ­senior figures and has sparked a revolt by special advisers already unhappy at the low pay they were offered.

In an interview with the BBC ahead of his party's conference this ­weekend, Sir Keir said he was 'not going to get into ­discussions about individual salaries'.

Asked about negative briefings and whether he was still in charge, 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.'

Many political advisers are understood to be furious at being given their contracts in the last fortnight to find they are being offered lower pay than they received in opposition, and smaller sums than ­Conservative counterparts were on.

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Some are refusing to sign the contracts, with talk of planning to unionise in revolt, or even quit. One adviser said it was an 'absolute mess', while another said reports about her salary were 'totally wild'.

Many blame Ms Gray for 'denting morale', according to The Guardian, while the BBC reported that her salary had gone off like a 'stinkbomb' among colleagues.

One source told the Financial Times: 'This news about Sue's pay could be the final straw. Lots of people are ready to walk. Nobody that I know has signed a contract.'

The BBC's political editor, Chris Mason, yesterday said it was 'upset and anger' that motivated his source to come forward.

In a blog post, he wrote: 'This story, at its crux, is not about [Gray's] salary per se. It is about the levels of upset and anger – fair or otherwise – about her and her role at the top of government.

'And I know from other conversations that this person is far from alone.

'And that tells you something about the fractious relationships among some at the top of government, less than three months after Labour won the election.'

Sir Keir is thought to have signed off a rebanding of salaries for special advisers shortly after taking office in July.

Ms Gray was said to have been urged to take a lower salary than that of the PM, but 'declined', though officials have denied this.

The Conservatives have asked whether the Prime Minister ­personally signed off Ms Gray's new salary and an increase in the cap on the highest pay band but questions have gone unanswered.

They have also asked whether a special adviser remuneration committee still exists and if Ms Gray is a member, as well as what role she played in setting her own salary and changing pay bands. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds yesterday dismissed suggestions the Prime Minister had personally intervened to increase Ms Gray's salary.

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He insisted that ministers had 'no input' into what their advisers were paid and said there was a 'long-standing process' for determining what aides are paid.

'There's a process that exists, it's a civil service process, it hasn't changed. It's wrong to say there's any kind of political input in there or people set their own pay bands,' he told BBC Breakfast.

But Boris Johnson's former chief adviser Dominic Cummings branded his claims 'nonsense'.

He wrote online: 'There's a ­process that sets these things. It is widely recognised. It's long-standing. It hasn't changed and that is how pay bands are set for any adviser.

'Either if the process has NOT changed, as he claims, then ­political people ARE involved in spad pay. Or the process has changed in which case he's making a false statement.

'Simple questions for a hack to ask the PM: has the process whereby the PM's chief Spad discusses Spad pay with Cabinet Office officials been abolished? If so what is the new process?

'Did Sue Gray have no ­involvement of any kind in any Spad pay?'

The Cabinet Office said: 'It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any ­decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay.

'Any decision on special advisor pay is made by officials not ­political appointees ... Special advisors cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets.'

Shadow Commons leader Chris Philp told the BBC: 'The prime minister's chief of staff is getting an enormous pay rise. At the same time this Labour government is slashing winter fuel payments for pensioners earning half the level of the minimum wage.

Ms Gray's predecessor Liam Booth-Smith was paid £140-145,000, which was then the highest pay band for special advisers, when he worked for Rishi Sunak.

Guto Harri, a former Downing Street director of communications under Mr Johnson, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley that being paid more than your boss at No 10 was 'basically a no-no'.