Politics LIVE: Sue Gray to take pay cut after resigning as Starmer’s chief of staff – and will finally earn less than the PM
Sue Gray is set to take a pay cut in her first job since stepping back as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff amid rising Downing Street “chaos”.
Just yesterday, the PM announced Gray would be being shifted to a part-time role as Starmer’s so-called “regions and nations” envoy – but the move will see his one-time top aide’s salary slashed.
The new position is set to see Gray take home less than her former £170,000 salary in No10 – almost five times as much as the UK median wage.
It will also see her earn less than Starmer, who earns £167,000 per year – alongside a number of non-cash benefits.
She’ll now be reporting to Pat McFadden – Labour’s election campaign boss, who’s said to be closely allied to her own replacement Morgan McSweeney.
The new role will see her report into the Cabinet Office rather than No10 as she focuses on keeping the UK together and devolution.
But it remains to be seen whether Gray will begin drawing a pension of up to £90,000 a year for which she is eligible from her career in the Civil Service.
Gray had declined the money while serving as chief of staff.
Her Tory predecessors in the chief of staff role, such as Liam Booth-Smith, Rishi Sunak’s chief of staff, had been paid between £140,000 and £145,000 per year.
The BBC report which revealed her £170,000 pay had carried a quote from an anonymous source saying it had been suggested to her that it was best to be paid less than the Prime Minister to avoid headlines. She declined.
That claim was swiftly rejected by Downing Street, however, with a Government source saying it was “categorically untrue”.
Reacting to the news of her departure yesterday, the Conservatives said in a statement: “In fewer than 100 days, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has been thrown into chaos – he has lost his chief of staff who has been at the centre of the scandal the Labour Party has been engulfed by.
“Sue Gray was brought into deliver a programme for government… a Government of self-service. The only question that remains is: Who will run the country now?”
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Starmer speaks out on October 7 – as 97 hostages remain in Hamas terrorists’ hands
7 October 2023 was the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust.
One year on from these horrific attacks we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country.
We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we…
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 7, 2024
The Prime Minister has called on Britons to “unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country” on the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
On this day last year, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups surged into Israel from the Gaza Strip – killing thousands, injuring thousands more and taking hundreds hostage.
In the year since, Israel has been ruthless in its retaliatory assault on Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and Lebanon – but 97 hostages still remain in the former’s hands.
Today, Sir Keir Starmer has issued a statement online labelling the attacks the “darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust”.
On social media, he wrote: “One year on from these horrific attacks we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community and unite as a country.
“We will not falter in our pursuit of peace and on this day of pain and sorrow, we honour those we lost, and continue in our determination to return those still held hostage, help those who are suffering, and secure a better future for the Middle East.”
Reeves caves to pensioner pressure as Labour set to abandon savings raid
Rachel Reeves is set to back down over plans to raid pension savings over fears it could unfairly sting as many as a million teachers, nurses and public sector employees.
Treasury officials are understood to have warned the Chancellor that reducing the current 40 per cent level of tax relief for higher earners would disproportionately hit those of relatively modest incomes who work for the state.
Her planned raid, for example, could lead to a nurse earning £50,000 facing an additional tax bill of up to £1,000 a year.
One senior Government figure said it would be “madness” to inflict large tax rises on public sector workers – having just given them what the Tories have called “inflation-busting” pay rises.
Another Government source, speaking to The Times, highlighted Labour’s decision to drop plans to bring back a cap on the lifetime allowance on pension savings – amid concerns that doing so would hit junior doctors.
“The government will take into account the impact on public sector workers,” they said.
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