The Gibraltar Government has rejected a claim by The Sun that it paid Labour MP and top lawyer Sir Keir Starmer for advice to help it “nobble Brexit.”

Yesterday’s Sun, in typically brash style, said: “Labour Remoaner Sir Keir Starmer was paid almost £10,000 by Gibraltar for “legal advice” as it tried to nobble Brexit.

“The former Director of Public Prosecutions got £9,480 for just 20 hours of work in December 2015, according to the MPs’ Register of Interests.”

Number Six quickly issued this response: “Keir Starmer QC is a former Director of Public Prosecutions in the United Kingdom and a very highly regarded human rights lawyer. Keir has been instructed to advise Her Majesty's Attorney General for Gibraltar on two occasions. On both occasions his advice has been sought in relation to non-political matters affecting prosecutions and procedures relating thereto. Both instances are entirely unrelated to the UK or Gibraltar's membership of or exit from the European Union.”