Sir Keir Starmer claimed the Tories were trying to "resurrect" the row over Sue Gray’s appointment as the Labour leader’s new chief of staff in order to distract from the cost-of-living crisis ahead of Thursday’s local elections. 

He told BBC Breakfast: "I’m afraid with 48 hours to the election what is going on is the Government is trying to sort of resurrect a story about Sue Gray, mainly because they don’t want to talk about the cost-of-living crisis which actually is the thing that most people are most concerned about." 

He added: "You have to smile when the Government raises an issue like this with 48 hours to go before the polls."

Sir Keir Starmer said he is "confident" that Sue Gray "hasn’t broken any of the rules" over her appointment as his next chief of staff as MPs prepare to receive an update on the row. 

The Cabinet Office is due to present a written statement to the House of Commons today which will shed more light on how the former senior civil servant came to leave her Whitehall position for the Labour job. 

The report is expected to reveal that Ms Gray held secret talks with Sir Keir while working for the Cabinet Office’s team which was advising the Commons partygate investigation. 

A Labour source insisted the party’s incoming chief of staff had no involvement whatsoever in the work on the inquiry while she was in contact with its leader.

Sir Keir told BBC Breakfast this morning: "Firstly, I had no discussions with her while she was investigating Boris Johnson whatsoever. I don’t think anybody is suggesting that that is the case. 

"I am confident she hasn’t broken any of the rules. Whenever a senior civil servant leaves the civil service there is always a process they have to go through before they take up another job. That is the process she is going through, quite rightly… actually today there is nothing much new about this."