Is this what’s wrong with Britain? Keir Starmer has booted out the top woman in his Downing Street team. Some say it is a symptom of a rotten mindset that is holding the country back.
Fury over Sue Gray media ‘witch hunt’
Out: Before her post as Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray was best known as the author of a report into parties held at No 10 Downing Street during the pandemic, which led to Boris Johnson's downfall. Glossary
Hartlepool - A seaside town in northern England.
Annaliese Dodds - A UK Labour party politician and the current Minister of State for Development.
Rachel Reeves - A UK Labour party politician and the current chancellor of the exchequer.
Fiscal - Related to government money, especially taxes.
Sue Gray - A senior civil servant who entered the public eye for the first time when she was tasked with investigating lockdown breaches in government. In 2024, she was briefly Keir Starmer's chief of staff.
Chief of staff - The leader of a large and complex body or organisation.
Morgan McSweeney - An Irish political aide who has worked for the UK Labour party and for PM Keir Starmer.
Scapegoat - A person who is made to take the blame for the wrongdoings of others. The term originates from a ceremony during the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, in which the sins of the people were symbolically placed upon a goat. The goat was then sent into the wilderness.
10 Downing Street - The official residence of the British prime minister.
7 October - On 7 October 2023, the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, carried out a series of surprise attacks on Israel, killing more than 1,000 people and taking more than 200 hostages.
Civil servants - Anyone working in a government department. The civil service has long-standing traditions and strict codes of conduct that can make it a law unto itself.