The Guardian

Sue Gray Civil servant ‘did not advise’ inquiry during Labour talks

Rowena Mason Whitehall editor

Sue Gray was not involved with handing Partygate evidence to the privileges committee inquiry into Boris Johnson while she was in talks with Labour about a job, sources have said.

Allies of Johnson are furious that Gray, who was in charge of the report on Partygate published last May, is going to work for Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, as chief of staff.

They have used Gray’s move to call into question the privileges committee investigation into whether Johnson misled parliament over Partygate, claiming that it relies heavily on evidence gathered by Gray.

Before Johnson’s appearance before the committee tomorrow, his allies claimed Gray had been “advising” which evidence could be released to the inquiry while she was in talks with Labour.

However, Whitehall sources said the process had been managed by the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team, with Gray having returned to her post as second permanent secretary on constitutional affairs in May last year.

Labour sources would not comment on claims that Gray had been in talks with the party since November last year. However, they said Gray had not been involved in advising on evidence for the privileges committee, which was part of a separate process in the Cabinet Office from the original gathering of material for the report.

However, some Conservative MPs said Gray’s contact with Labour needed to be investigated.

Priti Patel, a former home secretary and an ally of Johnson, told the Daily Mail: “We will need precise answers as to whether and when Labour had any hand in this, and what the extent of contacts were.”

The privileges committee first asked for evidence last summer, but this was not fully handed over by the government until Rishi Sunak was in power in November last year.

The committee disputes the claim that its inquiry is based on the Gray report. It has received material such as photographs and WhatsApp messages from the government, and taken its own evidence from witnesses, who do not include Gray.

National | Politics

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2023-03-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://guardian.pressreader.com/article/281672554184635

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