Labour MPs and peers reacted with incredulity and fury as former No 10 spin doctor Matthew Doyle re-took his seat in the House of Lords on Monday after his suspension from the party over his links to a convicted sex offender.
Doyle further angered his colleagues by returning to the Lords on the same day that more than 1,000 pages of documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US were released by the Government.
In February, Doyle, the former No 10 director of communications, had the Labour whip withdrawn, meaning he sits as an independent in the upper chamber. Labour is undertaking an internal investigation into the peer for his links to a convicted paedophile. Doyle, a close ally of Mandelson, has swerved the House of Lords since then, amid disapproval from other peers and Labour’s women.
“We need to put an end to the Mandelson fiasco. That includes stripping Lords who refuse to step away. Matthew Doyle is a product of the boys’ club and by showing up, he shows he has learnt nothing and cares nothing for the embarrassment of the Prime Minister, his former boss,” Labour MP Emily Darlington told The i Paper.
Doyle had campaigned for Sean Morton, an ex-Labour councillor in Moray, Scotland, after the candidate was charged with possessing indecent images of children in December 2016. He later admitted the offences. Last December, Pam Duncan-Glancy, a senior Scottish Labour MSP, resigned from Scottish Labour’s front bench over her friendship with Morton.
“It was only a few months ago that we learnt about Matthew Doyle’s connection to a convicted sex offender. This issue has not gone away. A female MSP was prevented from re-standing for the Scottish Parliament because of her connection to the same sex offender. Why is Matthew not held to an equal standard? Why does he think it’s OK to come into the House of Lords? Who told him it’s OK to come back? The whole thing stinks,” a Labour peer told The i Paper.
Another Labour peer said women in the Labour party are “absolutely furious” about Doyle’s appearance in the Lords on Monday. “People couldn’t believe their eyes,” they said. A Labour MP added: “I’d say it’s not really a tenable situation. Monday of all days!” Doyle’s name appeared in multiple exchanges with Mandelson in the files.
Doyle has apologised for his links to Morton. Sir Keir Starmer has defended awarding a peerage to his close aide after saying Doyle “did not give a full account” over his links to the sex offender.
In the first tranche of the Mandelson files, Doyle attracted further criticism after it was revealed that he had said he was “satisfied” with Labour grandee Mandelson’s “responses to questions about contact” with Jeffrey Epstein.
When approached by The i Paper on Tuesday, Doyle said: “Mandelson’s appointment should never have happened and I regret the message it sent to Epstein’s victims and beyond. It was clearly wrong and I apologise for any part I played in that process.”
Sir Olly Robbins, the former mandarin at the heart of the Mandelson vetting row, revealed in April that Downing Street asked him to find a “head of mission” job for Doyle. The revelation sparked anger in Labour, with an MP saying it highlighted a “jobs for the boys” culture in No 10. Doyle denies seeking such a role.
Long-promised legislation to make it easier to kick disgraced peers out of the House of Lords was announced in the King’s Speech. It will give peers greater powers to remove titles from those they believe have brought the upper chamber into disrepute.
The legislation will not focus on specific people – but will create a new mechanism that allows Lords to be removed if they are found guilty of misconduct and there is no suggestion Doyle would be eligible to have his title stripped under the fresh legislation. The i Paper understands the Government is keen to introduce the bill before Parliament rises for the summer recess in July.
On Tuesday, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds was asked if widespread congratulatory messages sent to Mandelson after his appointment as ambassador suggested there was a “boys’ club” within Westminster. The minister said he “would dispute that” and the “awful suffering” of Epstein’s victims has been “very much at the forefront” of his mind.
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