Sir Keir Starmer backed nominating his former communications chief for a peerage despite being told of his links to a paedophile councillor, an ex-No10 adviser has claimed.Tim Allan, who resigned from No10 on Monday, confirmed the Prime Minister’s ex-chief of staff Morgan McSweeney instructed him to discuss Matthew Doyle’s friendship with Sean Morton. The Prime Minister was first made aware of concerns about Lord Doyle’s relationship with Morton on December 4.Mr Allan spoke to Lord Doyle several times about his relationship with Morton, later relaying the details to Mr McSweeney.
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Lord Doyle did not disclose his decision to campaign for Morton after the 43-year-old was charged with child sex offences and suspended from the Labour Party, Mr Allan claimed. Despite revealing key details of Lord Doyle’s friendship with Morton, Sir Keir announced his former aide’s peerage on December 10. Speaking to The Times, Mr Allan said: “I was asked to speak to Matthew Doyle by Morgan McSweeney regarding Doyle’s relationship with Sean Morton.”I accurately relayed what Doyle had told me to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is right to state that Doyle did not tell me about his campaigning in a council election for Sean Morton.”Matthew Doyle did, however, tell me that he had believed Morton’s protestations of innocence prior to his conviction and had been supportive of him during that time.”However, nine MPs submitted a motion expressing concerns about Lord Doyle’s peerage before it was formally approved by King Charles in The London Gazette on January 8.The timeline suggests Sir Keir had 12 days to prevent Lord Doyle’s peerage. Meanwhile, No10 insists there is “no established precedent” for stopping a peerage after it had been announced.LATEST DEVELOPMENTSA House of Lords spokesman 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.”Sir Keir was grilled on his knowledge about Lord Doyle’s friendship with Morton just weeks after the Prime Minister came under fire about Lord Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Female Labour MPs warned Sir Keir that Labour risked looking like a “paedo protectors party”.South Shields MP Emma Lewell, who worked in child protection services, said: “I can’t even begin to explain how much it hurts when people are screaming at me in the street that I am a member of the ‘paedo protectors party’.“Before people criticised the government’s policies and lack of political narrative, now they are questioning the government’s moral compass. You have said so many times now ‘things will be different’, each time it isn’t.”Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch told the Prime Minister: “Nobody buys it … not even the Labour women, because they know he always puts the Downing Street boys’ club first.“And how dare he criticise us? We’re not the ones stuffing government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists.”However, the Prime Minister insisted that Lord Doyle was not honest about his friendship with Morton.Echoing his comments about Lord Mandelson and Epstein, Sir Keir told MPs: “Matthew Doyle did not give a full account of his actions.”He added: “I promised my party and my country there would be change. And yesterday, I removed the whip from Matthew Doyle. “I’ll tell you what other action we’ve taken, along with the safeguarding minister, I and this Government have introduced the most far-reaching violence against women and girls strategy.”
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