Sue Gray ‘personally authorised Downing Street pass given to Lord Alli’

Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff allegedly approved access for controversial Labour donor, according to Mail on Sunday

Sue Gray personally authorised the Downing Street security pass given to Lord Alli, it has been reported.
Ms Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, allegedly approved access for the controversial Labour donor, which allowed him to attend meetings in No 10, according to The Mail on Sunday.
The decision was followed by a bitter briefing war against Ms Gray including the leaking of her salary, which revealed that she is paid more than the Prime Minister.
Such has been the furore that she decided to skip Labour’s conference in Liverpool. She will instead spend her time in Downing Street, preparing for Sir Keir’s attendance at the UN General Assembly later this week.
However, Lord Alli decided to attend the conference despite the controversy over his donations of £25,000 towards clothing for Sir Keir and his wife. Lord Alli is not accused of any wrongdoing. 
John Glen, a Tory MP, said it was “deeply concerning” that the Downing Street pass had been issued to Lord Alli at all. Mr Glen has written to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, demanding to know whether Ms Gray or Sir Kier had authorised the pass.
“No wonder she’s on a higher salary than the Prime Minister,” he said. “It’s now clear that it’s Sue Gray – not Sir Keir – who decides who comes in and out of No 10.”
Downing Street has declined to comment on the reports. Last month, it said the pass was “temporary” and had been “given back several weeks ago”.
The Downing Street pass gave Lord Alli, 59 – who was ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998 and led the party’s fundraising for the general election – unrestricted access to No 10. At the time, sources said it was rare for anyone not formally employed as a political adviser or civil servant to be given such a pass.
Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, said Lord Alli brought “a huge amount to the Labour party” and “was an important part of the election campaign”. He added: “I don’t believe there’s anything done here that’s in conflict with the rules.”
It came as Cabinet ministers rallied round Ms Gray and dismissed speculation that she could soon leave No 10. Asked whether Ms Gray would still be in Downing Street at Christmas, Angela Rayner told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg “I think so, absolutely”, she replied when asked on BBC One.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, also voiced support. She told Sky News: “What I would say about Sue Gray is that she is someone who brings enormous expertise, particularly in the running of Government, to this role.
“In the dealings that I’ve had with Sue, [she] has always been highly professional and focused on delivering.”
It also emerged on Sunday that Civil Service pay bands were set by a panel chaired by a long-standing ally of Ms Gray. Darren Tierney, Parliament’s head of propriety and ethics, worked alongside her in the Civil Service.
On July 12, less than a week after Labour’s election victory, a paper recommending that Ms Gray earn at least as much as she had in opposition was written by Mr Tierney and sent to Mr Case. He discussed it with Sir Keir and he agreed to the £170,000 salary – £3,000 more than the Prime Minister’s pay.
Ms Gray has one of the biggest public profiles for a Downing Street insider in recent years, in part thanks to her role in Boris Johnson’s departure as prime minister.
While still in the Civil Service, she led the Whitehall investigation into claims of parties at the heart of government during Covid lockdowns. Her findings were passed onto the Metropolitan Police, which eventually found that dozens of individuals had broken lockdown laws with events in Downing Street or the Cabinet Office.