Tory MPs question 'impartiality' after Starmer's Sue Gray appointment
Black Country MPs have joined calls for transparency over Sir Keir Starmer's appointment of Sue Gray as his chief of staff.
Ms Gray, who led the Partygate probe, quit her role in the civil service last Thursday and was offered the top job with the Labour leader the following day.
The appointment has sparked fury among Tory MPs who consider Ms Gray's report to have played a major role in the downfall of Boris Johnson as PM.
Stourbridge MP Suzanne Webb was one of many Conservatives to demand answers on Ms Gray's appointment during an urgent question in the Commons.
She told Paymaster General Jeremy Quin: "The whole situation surrounding this appointment is quite extraordinary, and many will say that it is outrageous.
"Does my right honourable friend agree that appointing such a senior and high-profile civil servant to this post under such circumstances is questionable, and does he agree that what is of deep concern is the timing of this appointment and when she was approached? Where meetings were held, the details must be published."
She later added: "So far, the Labour leader is refusing to divulge the important details of what happened prior to Mrs Gray getting this job. We know nothing about when she was approached and whether any rules were broken. This is a bad look for all involved and we need answers."
Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes also questioned Ms Gray's impartiality and called for the publication of a timeline of discussions between her and Sir Keir.
He said: "When I was a Minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities I will have had several conversations with Sue Gray on the basis of confidentiality and impartiality, so I am slightly unnerved to feel she may have simultaneously been having discussions with the Leader of the Opposition."
Mr Quin told MPs the appointment was "unprecedented" and that "transparency would help".
He said in some people's eyes the matter had "called into question the perceived impartiality of the civil service", and added: "That was a misstep and a mistake; the Leader of the Opposition should accept that and set out transparently what happened and when, so that we can have absolute clarity on what took place."
