Sir Keir Starmer promised to sack anyone caught briefing against his advisers and dismissed claims that a “boys’ club” was in charge of the Labour Party.
In a challenge to his internal critics following months of acrimony, the leader of the opposition used a speech to Labour staff to denounce attacks on his office by anonymous insiders.
To applause from his 100-strong audience, he told an all-staff meeting at the party’s London headquarters that he would not stand for attacks on his “loyal team”. It is a sign of his frustration with a glut of recent press reports that have sought to divide longstanding male aides from his chief of staff, Sue Gray.
Gray is a former civil servant whose arrival in September was
