Rachel Reeves accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘vendetta’ against Sue Gray
Rachel Reeves accused Rishi Sunak and the Government of pursuing a “vendetta” against Sue Gray over the former senior civil servant’s appointment as Sir Keir Starmer’s next chief of staff.
The shadow chancellor said a Cabinet Office investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ms Gray’s exit from Whitehall was a “political gimmick”.
She said Ms Gray was cooperating fully with the “normal process” for scrutinising new jobs for ex-civil servants which is run by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).
Ms Reeves told Times Radio: “The issue here is that there are two inquiries going on. There is the usual one, the ACOBA process which Sue Gray is cooperating with fully, and then there is the political gimmick one set up by Government ministers to pursue this vendetta they have got against Sue Gray and Sue Gray is cooperating with the normal process, the ACOBA process, that looks at the appointment of former civil servants to roles outside the civil service and she is cooperating and also Labour is cooperating with that inquiry.”
She claimed Mr Sunak was “supposed to be moving on from the era of Boris Johnson but instead he is sort of doubling down on this vendetta against Sue Gray” because of her role in investigating the partygate scandal.
The comments came after the Cabinet Office investigation was paused yesterday after Ms Gray refused to cooperate with it.