Starmer’s chief of staff has been questioned over his links to Sinn Féin politicians

Sue Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s powerful chief of staff, faced questions last night about her links to senior Sinn Féin politicians, including a former IRA terrorist who boasted that Ms Gray was a “friend at court” in Number 10.

The Conservatives have called on Ms Gray to reveal the extent of her contacts with republican figures. Security sources said she met Sinn Féin’s finance minister Conor Murphy when she left her senior civil service job to work for Sir Keir.

Conservative peer Jonathan Cain, who has served under successive Conservative governments in the Northern Ireland Office, posed a question in the House of Lords: ‘What meetings and phone or video calls has the Prime Minister’s chief of staff had with representatives of Sinn Féin?’

His links to Irish republicans – a source of intrigue since his days as a pub landlord in the IRA’s “bandit country” in the 1980s – came to light last week, after a public inquiry was set up into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane by loyalist paramilitaries in 1989.

The government has declined to say whether Ms Gray was involved in the decision to open the arson investigation to the extent of involving the security services.

Sir Keir Starmer’s powerful chief of staff Sue Gray faced questions last night about her links to senior Sinn Féin politicians.

British soldiers and an armoured Saracen patrol on the streets of Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, September 1981.

A source said: “After Sue left the civil service she worked actively to increase her Irish contacts with Murphy.”

A No 10 source said last night: “We never get into personnel issues but the information they are being presented with is not entirely correct.”

Security sources also expressed concern about Miss Gray’s failed attempt to redevelop Casement Park, a £310m redevelopment of Casement Park, a disused stadium in Belfast where two British soldiers were killed by nationalists in 1988.

The plan was vetoed by Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn this weekend amid fears of cost overruns and security officials arguing the plan was “a risk to civil order” because of unionist opposition.

Ms Gray’s involvement in the project was branded “constitutionally inappropriate” by one Whitehall source, who said she was “an unelected member of staff spending public money on her own interests, destroying the Cabinet”.

Ms Grey, dubbed a “court assassin” by her critics in government because of her powerful role within the Starmer administration, has been shrouded in mystery since she left her job in Whitehall and moved to Northern Ireland 40 years ago. Among the problems is her ownership of the Cove Bar, close to the border in an IRA-affected part of County Down.

He denied working for British intelligence at the time, saying: “I am certainly not a spy and no, I never have been.”

Murphy is the most senior Sinn Féin member to emerge from the “rogue country”, so called because the RUC could not have patrolled there without an army escort.

He joined the IRA as a teenager during the hunger strike and was sentenced to five years in prison in 1982 for IRA membership and possession of explosives.

Irish Republican Army (IRA) graffiti is seen in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 6, 2005.

Conservative peer Jonathan Cain, who served in the Northern Ireland Office under successive Conservative governments, raised a question in the House of Lords.

Following his release he became a Sinn Féin activist and was MP for Newry and Armagh from 2005 to 2015. In 2005 he became the first Irish republican to address the Conservative conference, sparking controversy by refusing to express regret for the IRA bombing of the Grande Hotel in Brighton 21 years ago. He is now a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

Following Ms Grey’s appointment as Sir Keir’s chief of staff, Mr Murphy said: “With Sue Grey, who used to be from here and is now part of the[leader’s]office… at least we have a friend at court, so there is certainly access… direct to Downing Street.

The Conservatives expressed dismay at Finucane’s inquiry, saying there was “no legal basis” for it and the decision was “political”.

Finucane was shot by the Ulster Defence Association in 1989 at his Belfast home in front of his 39-year-old wife and children.

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “Terrorists don’t keep records, so their brutality is lost in the mists of time. We kept the record. The problem was always that it seemed one-sided to unionists.”

Asked whether Ms Gray was involved in organising the public inquiry, Labour said it would not go into personnel issues. Ms Gray, who investigated Boris Johnson over Partygate, is believed to have asked Johnson to appoint her as permanent secretary at the Northern Ireland Office after being blocked by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

An embarrassed Mr. Johnson pretended not to hear her request.

Sinn Féin has been contacted for comment.