Keir Starmer during a visit to a community centre in Hertfordshire (Image: Getty) A Labour minister has defended Keir Starmer’s decision to give £260,000 to a sacked civil servant – after Conservatives branded the handout “hush money”. The Prime Minister ordered the payment of taxpayers’ money to Sir Chris Wormald, the former Cabinet Secretary, as part of a plan to install a new team in Downing Street following a series of scandals. Civil servants initially refused to make the payment, on the grounds that there was no reason for Sir Chris to be sacked, forcing Sir Keir to issue a formal “direction” overriding their concerns. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch have called the payment “hush money”, and says Sir Chris is being made a “scapegoat” for the Government’s failings. But Labour Environment Minister Emma Hardy insisted: “Of course, Kemi’s going to say things like that. That’s the usual political knockabout.” READ MORE: GB News erupts as Keir Starmer bombshell leaves hosts seething ‘It’s outrageous’ READ MORE: Utter chaos as No10 refuses to say who is the …