PM says peer did not give 'full account' over links to sex offender

Sir Keir Starmer has defended awarding a peerage to his former communications chief after claiming Lord Doyle "did not give a full account" over his links with a convicted sex offender.

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir reiterated he had removed Lord Doyle from Labour's parliamentary party.

But Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch raised questions on what Sir Keir knew about Lord Doyle during the appointment process before accusing the PM of "stuffing government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists".

Lord Doyle has apologised for his past association with Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor who admitted indecent child image offences in 2017.

It was announced on 10 December last year that Sir Keir's former director of communications would be awarded a peerage.

On 27 December, The Sunday Times reported that Lord Doyle campaigned for Morton after he was charged with possessing and distributing indecent images of children in December 2016.

According the newspaper, a No 10 spokeswoman responded to the story by saying that questions regarding Lord Doyle's past ties with Morton were "thoroughly investigated, including through several interviews with Matthew Doyle, prior to his appointment".

On 7 January, nine opposition MPs led by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn tabled a motion in the Commons expressing concerns about the appointment.

Lord Doyle, a veteran Labour spin doctor who was the party's head of press between 1998 and 2005 before working for Lord Blunkett and Sir Tony Blair, took his seat in the House of Lords on 12 January.

It's understood Number 10 was not aware Lord Doyle had campaigned for Morton at the time he was nominated in early December, but that the prime minister saw the report in the Sunday Times on 27 December.

On Tuesday, Lord Doyle issued a statement, saying: "At the point of my campaigning support, Morton repeatedly asserted to all those who knew him his innocence, including initially in court."

He added: "To have not ceased support ahead of a judicial conclusion was a clear error of judgement for which I apologise unreservedly."

It comes after Sir Keir confirmed he had appointed Lord Mandelson to the role of US ambassador despite knowing about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The prime minister apologised to Epstein's victims for believing Mandelson's "lies" about the extent of his relationship with the financier.

Sir Keir opened PMQs by defending his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who resigned at the weekend over his role in pushing for Lord Mandelson to be appointed as ambassador.

He said: "I've accepted responsibility and apologised for the mistakes that I've made."

But Badenoch said Sir Keir was "throwing everyone under a bus except himself" before noting that the "Mandelson episode was not an isolated incident".

Raising the announcement of the peerage for Lord Doyle, the Opposition leader said: "Immediately after that, the Sunday Times published on the front page that Doyle campaigned for a man charged with child sex offences.

"Yet despite the prime minister knowing this, he gave Doyle a job for life in the House of Lords anyway. Why?"

Sir Keir replied: "Matthew Doyle did not give a full account of his actions. On Monday I promised my party and my country there will be change, and yesterday I removed the whip from Matthew Doyle."

The prime minister went on to defend his government's record on dealing with violence against women and girls.

Badenoch replied: "The prime minister pretends not to know about Matthew Doyle. It was on the front page of The Sunday Times.

"He cannot explain why he gave this man a peerage, and I think they [Labour MPs] should be wondering why they're still cheering for him after that."

Badenoch said Sir Keir "only cares about the victims when he's trying to save his own skin".

The prime minister said he would take "no lectures from the Tories" on standards in public life as he criticised Badenoch for her record.

Speaking to the BBC's Politics Live, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander defended why the government did not stop Lord Doyle's appointment to the upper chamber.

She said she understood that there "isn't an established process, once a nomination has happened to the House of Lords, to then call back that nomination before a peer is introduced".

The prime minister's official spokesman, after using the same argument to explain why the appointment was not stopped, said "that's why we are undertaking wider reform of both vetting and appointment processes".

Asked about Downing Street's claim that there is "no established precedent" for withdrawing a peerage nomination, a House of Lords spokesperson said: "We cannot comment on specific confidential advice given by Parliamentary Officials. However our understanding is that under the Life Peerages Act 1958 a peerage is created when the letters patent are sealed."

That process happened on 8 January.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Sir Keir has shown a "catastrophic lack of judgement" in appointing Lord Mandelson and Lord Doyle.

Sir Keir, in his reply, told the Commons: "People in this country, millions of people have been let down for years and years and years.

"One of the reasons was austerity, which his party supported. He should take accountability and take responsibility for what he has inflicted on this country."

For the SNP, Flynn said the House of Lords Appointments Commission explained to him that the vetting process includes them providing "confidential advice to the prime minister on the propriety of a potential nominee".

In response to a request from Flynn to release the advice, Sir Keir said he has made his position "clear" before adding: "He knows how the system works."

Lord Doyle has been approached for comment following the prime minister's remarks about him in the Commons.

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