Labour MP Alex Ballinger was forced to admit he was unaware of a second high-profile appointment linked to a convicted pedophile, just moments after branding the Peter Mandelson affair the “biggest mistake” of Keir Starmer’s Government.
During a high-pressure interview on GB News the Halesowen MP was confronted with the history of Matthew Doyle, Downing Street’s former Director of Communications and recent Lords appointee, who campaigned for a candidate later convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Speaking on The People’s Channel, host Tom Harwood asked: “To lose one chief of staff is unfortunate. To lose two starts to look like a pattern.
“To lose one director of communications seems unfortunate but to lose two, three, four, five? This is the fifth director of communications, the fifth chief spinner, that No10 has now lost.
“It is starting to look as though the Prime Minister is putting his advisers in front of him, with his advisers taking the rap for a series of bad decisions that were ultimately made by the Prime Minister himself.”
Mr Ballinger said: “I think we need to take a step back here, Tom. We need to think what we can learn and what needs to happen on the back of this scandal.
“And of course, I think we have a terrible situation here of abuse of women, abuse of girls, abuse of position. And we need to think, who is the right person to take us through the other side of such a scandal?
“And yes, you’ve talked about the changes in personnel at No10, I think that’s important. People have made mistakes inside number ten. But who do I want to lead those changes?
Labour MP Alex Ballinger admitted that he has not done his research
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GB NEWS
“Who do I want to take us forward and out the other side of this. I want someone with decency.
“I want someone who has led changes of the system so that victims of these sorts of abuses were listened to.
“Someone who takes violence against women and girls at the forefront of his missions, halving it is a target of this Government. And I think despite these mistakes, the Prime Minister is still the right man to take us through.”
Tom said: “But of course, it’s not just an issue with Peter Mandelson. There’s another appointment that this Prime Minister has made in the last few weeks, which is ennobling.
Keir Starmer is facing growing criticism over Lord Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to the US | PA
“A man called Matthew Doyle. He was the previous director of communications at Downing Street.
“Now he went and campaigned for a candidate in Scotland who was charged with possession of child sexual abuse material. Um, he was later convicted.
“This was known about when Matthew Doyle, who campaigned for this criminal, campaigned for him and then later was appointed to the Lords.
“I mean, it seems a remarkably similar situation where the Prime Minister appoints someone who, on the face of it, was friends with a paedophile. Not once, but twice.”
He responded: “So I’m not familiar with that case, Tom. But I think there are definitely issues. I’ve been reading the investigation in The Times, but I haven’t seen that specific report.
“I do think the way Lords are appointed, and the way we handle senior appointments across the country, needs closer scrutiny. In the case of Peter Mandelson as ambassador, senior ministers were involved, and the process should have been reviewed more carefully.
“Gordon Brown made a series of proposals on Saturday about how to clean up appointment systems, the extra scrutiny that needs to be applied, and how lobbying is handled in the House of Commons.”
Tom said: “I’m surprised you haven’t read this, it’s a very big story and you’ve come on to defend the Prime Minister.
“I’m surprised you’re unaware that the Prime Minister appointed his previous director of communications to the Lords, and that there is a massive scandal around that.”
He replied: “I’m sorry, I haven’t done my research on this specific case, so I wasn’t aware of that situation.
“What I am aware of, Tom, is that there are too many problematic appointments in the House of Lords. You may remember that under the Conservative government, a number of Russians and others were appointed who later became involved in lobbying scandals.
“I think we need a process similar to the one in America, with public confirmation hearings for senior appointments.
“That way, everything is transparent, open to public and journalistic scrutiny, and can be tested, rather than happening behind closed doors, which is what leads to the mistakes we’ve seen over the last few days.”