British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is embroiled in another significant scandal over the appointment of another paedophile-linked advisor just days after barely surviving backlash over his government’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Downing Street has admitted that Prime Minsiter Starmer had nominated his former communications director, Matthew Doyle, to the House of Lords last year despite being aware that he publicly campaigned for a councillor charged with child pornography offences.
According to a December report from The Times of London, Doyle campaigned for Sean Morton in 2017 to represent Moray in Scotland, despite Morton having been suspended by Labour at the time after having been charged for possession and distribution of indecent images of children just months prior.
According to the paper of record, the images included naked pictures of girls as young as ten years old, as well as images of adults engaged in bestiality.
Despite being aware of the accusations against Morton, Doyle personally campaigned door to door while wearing a t-shirt reading “Re-elect Sean Morton”.
Doyle, who had previously campaigned for Hillary Clinton alongside Morton during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, said in December: “Sean Morton was maintaining his innocence at this time. I regret supporting him. Sean Morton was someone I knew for a period through other shared acquaintances. I have not seen him for years.”
Regardless, Number 10 admitted this week that Starmer and his top advisors were aware of his former communications director’s ties to Morton before the PM nominated Doyle to the House of Lords last year. However, Starmer attempted to shift the blame onto Doyle, saying on Wednesday that he did not “give a full account of his actions” and has since removed the whip from Lord Doyle.
The stance from Starmer is reminiscent of the one he took in the wake of the revelations concerning ties between his former ambassador to the United States, Lord Peter Mandelson, and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Despite having also been made aware that Mandelson had continued his close friendship with Epstein after the New York financier had been convicted over child prostitution, Starmer still chose to appoint the Blair-era spin doctor to the top diplomatic posting.
Nevertheless, Starmer attempted to shift blame, claiming that Mandelson had lied to him over the extent of his relationship and that the security services had failed to properly vet the longtime Labour Party operative.
Although Starmer survived the near collapse of his government last week over the scandal, with his cabinet rallying in support, it remains to be seen how long the Labour Party backbenches will stand by the embattled PM.
According to a report from POLITICO, an unnamed Labour MP said that party activists are being branded as “paedo lovers” as they seek to talk to their constituents on the doorstep.
Political opponents have been quick to seize on the scandal as well, with Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey remarking on Wednesday: “To appoint one paedophile supporter cannot be excused as misfortune; to appoint two shows a catastrophic lack of judgment.”
Leader of the official opposition Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, accused the Prime Minister of staffing his government with “hypocrites and paedophile apologists” and that Starmer “only cares about the victims when he’s trying to save his own skin”.
The co-leader of the far-left Your Party, Zarah Sultana, who left the Labour Party last year after accusing the government of complicity in genocide in Gaza, described her former party as simply the “Nonce Party”.