What Sue Gray-gate says about Keir Starmer

In British politics the first order effect of any report into a past furore is always about how it impacts current party leaders.

So the various early inquiries related to the invasion of Iraq, for example, were not really about honestly learning from mistakes, but about the extent of the damage they would inflict upon Tony Blair. Equally, the public inquiry into the handling of Covid was most eagerly anticipated when it was supposed that Boris Johnson would still be in 10 Downing Street upon its publication, as his opponents looked for a political bomb to blow him up. Now he has gone it rarely gets talked about at all.

The Cabinet Office review into Sue Gray’s contacts with Keir Starmer and her intention to become his Chief of Staff is therefore not really or mainly about Sue Gray.