Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has appealed for an end to infighting at the top of government and called on colleagues to “stop the briefing”.
She was commenting on reports claiming that there is an “out-of-control group” of males surrounding Keir Starmer.
Asked on GB News if the Prime Minister has a problem with women, she said: “Absolutely not. We’ve got the first female Chancellor, the Cabinet is gender balanced for the first time in our history. We have more female Labour MPs than the Tory MPs have in total.
“There is no suggestion at all of any such issue and what I would say to colleagues is stop the briefing on all sides.
“That kind of briefing doesn’t help anybody and we need to get focused on the delivery of government. We’ve already achieved so much in less than 100 days.”
On the resignation of MP Rosie Duffield due to allegations of sleaze in government and a laddish culture in Number 10, she said: “I just don’t recognise that categorisation at all.
“Many will know that Rosie Duffield had been very unhappy for some time, both prior to the election, and so it wasn’t an enormous surprise to see her leave the Labour Party, although I was sorry to see her go.
“I don’t recognise that there is any such problem in Number 10 or around the Labour Party.”
She denied that Lord Waheed Alli’s gifts to politicians were in return for access: “I’ve not seen any allegations that there was anything given in return for donations.
“Lord Alli is a Labour politician in his own right and he has made donations to the Labour Party over many years in order to help us win campaigns.
“The reason that we’re talking about these issues at the moment is because they were all declared in the right and proper way on the register of interests.
“That’s very different from concerns and allegations that were made around the previous government when the donations weren’t properly declared and we didn’t know where they were coming from.
“But Keir Starmer has reflected on the mood of the country and the concern around this and that’s why we’re now drawing up a new code around hospitality and gifts that will be published shortly.
“That will hopefully restore some trust and address the concerns that have been raised.”
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