Labour minister Jess Phillips on Friday sprang to the defence of top No10 official Sue Gray, suggesting that misogyny lies behind attacks on Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
But the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls also conceded on BBC Radio 5 Live that media “obsession” about the top aide after a series of leaks against her was a “distraction” for the new Government.
The minister was commenting the day after Sir Keir was forced to deny that Ms Gray has too much power after it was revealed that she earns more than the PM, telling the BBC that he was “completely in control”.
Ms Phillips said the chief of staff had been an “amazing advocate” on the issue of violence against women and girls since Labour came to power 11 weeks ago, ensuring that departments “have all that they need in support from Number 10”.
The minister added: “The end result of it is people saying that ‘they don't have a grip’.
“I really feel like Number 10 has quite a grip over me and quite a grip over what they're meant to be doing, which is trying to govern the country and improve things.”
The minister added: “Of course, I don’t want the distraction.” But she said “plenty of people in Westminster” earn a higher salary than the PM.
Ms Phillips added: “I have to say, I often worry about, and I worried about it under Boris Johnson, shockingly, that the sort of stories of a woman who is sort of like operating beyond her power was the kind of thing that was said about Carrie Johnson.
“And I didn't particularly like it then. In fact, I spoke about it at the time.
“So look, I think that Sue Gray, like many officials who work in Westminster, maybe get paid more than the Prime Minister. That's an issue for them, not me.”
Earlier on LBC, it was suggested to Ms Phillips that the sight of Sir Keir accepting free hospitality tickets to watch Arsenal was not a good look to her constituents in Birmingham, when the Government is cutting winter fuel payments to pensioners.
“Nobody could deny that, but they are two completely separate things,” she replied.
“And had Keir Starmer never gone to see the Arsenal, we'd still have a £22 billion black hole, and tough decisions would still have had to be made.”
