The prime minister insisted he was “in full control” after the BBC revealed a conflict within the government over staff pay.
It has emerged Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, received a pay rise which means she is now on a higher salary than him.
The story, which was told to the BBC by several sources, illustrates the fractured relationship at the heart of the government, less than three months after Labour’s general election victory.
Challenged by BBC South East political editor Charlotte Wright on a brief summary of Ms Gray, the PM said: “I’m focused and every day the message from me to the team is exactly the same, which is we. have to deliver.”
He added: “We were elected with a huge mandate to deliver change. I decided we were going to do it.”
In an interview with the BBC’s other regional political editors, Sir Keir defended his decision to accept corporate hospitality from Arsenal football club, saying he could not use season tickets as prime minister.
The Premier League club has provided two seats for the prime minister in the corporate area of the Emirates Stadium.
He said that he had been advised that it would be necessary to pay more taxes for the security fee to use the normal seats.
He would “prefer to be in the stands”, but accepting company tickets is a “very good rule”, he added.
‘Permanent frustration’
On Wednesday, the BBC announced that Ms Gray had received a post-election pay rise, taking her salary to £170,000 a year – around £3,000 more than the PM.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds dismissed suggestions the prime minister had personally intervened to increase Ms Gray’s pay, saying ministers had “no input” on what advisers were paid.
“There is a process that exists, it is a civil service process, it has not changed. It is wrong to say that there is any kind of political input there or that people set their own pay bands.
“I can’t even set the salary for my own advisor… I think there are and always have been officials who are paid more than politicians in our system and that hasn’t changed,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Reynolds admitted that leaks about issues in government such as Ms Gray’s pay were “disturbing” and “permanently frustrating”.
Reynolds also told Sky News that Ms Gray “gets on with the job of this government, keeps our promises, I think that’s the most important thing for anyone who works in Downing Street”.
‘Winter fuel payment’
Speaking on Wednesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC: “We are very lucky to have Sue.”
The appointment of Ms Gray, a former senior civil servant who report to Downing Street’s Covid lockdown party contributed to the downfall of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for Sir Keir’s team last year was controversial.
In recent weeks, he has been the subject of several reports of mounting acrimony at the heart of the new government, involving Ms Gray, Labor director of political strategy Morgan McSweeney and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.
At the weekend, Sir Keir played down this storyhe said “most of them are wildly wrong”.
The Conservatives have questioned whether the prime minister himself signed off on Ms Gray’s new salary and increased the cap on the highest pay band.
He also asked whether the special adviser’s remuneration committee still existed and if Ms Gray was a member, as well as what role she played in setting her own salary and changing salary bands.
Shadow Commons leader Chris Philp told the BBC: “The prime minister’s chief of staff is getting a huge pay rise. At the same time this Labor government is cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners who earn half the minimum wage.
“It raises wages for Labor cronies and cuts for hard-pressed pensioners.”
Guto Harri, former Downing Street communications director under Boris Johnson, told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Matt Chorley being paid more than your boss at No 10 is a “no-no”.
“If you accept the job in the heart of No 10, whatever you use, whatever you got before, it’s not good to ask for more than the prime minister,” he said.