What's actually going on in Downing Street?

There's a lot of noise about Sue Gray v Morgan McSweeney. But are there too many cooks spoiling the broth? And when will Sir Keir decide who his Bernard is?

There’s something odd about the way this Downing Street is reacting to events. Keir Starmer’s first reshuffle got jammed in the middle – mysteriously – with some of the appointments not coming for days. Then there was the odd slowness to grasp the scale of response required with the riots – by the time the Prime Minister chaired a COBR meeting it was sorely overdue. And now this cronyism row over Labour staffers and Labour donors appointed to the Civil Service has been building up steam for days – and yet there’s no evidence of any part of Government trying to get ahead of the story.

Many people outside Government are pointing fingers at Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff. Sue Gray is not short of critics from Conservatives furious at (a combination of) her record as the longstanding Head of Propriety and Ethics, the reports she wrote about ‘Partygate’, and her decision to leave Whitehall and join Labour. But I think briefing from Conservatives won’t bother her too much.

What might be more concerning for her is the amount of briefing against Sue Gray from inside Government. Although Labour figures deny it, the impression is that the Chief of Staff and the Election Supremo – Morgan McSweeney – are locked in a Titanic battle.

But does this explain everything?

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