Why the 'very clever' people in Keir Starmer's inner circle are on a collision course with Labour MPs

Perhaps what is most surprising, however, is that no one responsible for this mess has shown any sign that they will change their behaviour as a result.

The entire Mandelson affair should be a lesson in humility to the government – particularly those select few at the top. For a group of people who think that they are smarter than everyone else – including their own elected MPs – Morgan McSweeney and his cohort now have a lengthy track record of fouling things up.

READ MORE: Peter Mandelson should never have been made US ambassador. And he knew it

Unelected special advisers

It is a tale as old as time, and indeed depressingly familiar to anyone who has followed the governing methods of the SNP in Scotland over the years. People at the centre of power, surrounded by unelected special advisors and bright young things, decide that they and they alone can be trusted to make decisions. They hoard control jealously, micromanage their “subordinates” and inevitably blame others for their own self-inflicted failures.

Lest it be forgotten, the entire Mandelson affair was created wholesale by the clever people at the top of the Labour government. It was an own goal that hit the back of the net when the other team was not even on the pitch.

READ MORE: Sir Keir Starmer 'angry' after Lord Mandelson sacking and insists he need not resign as Prime Minister

There was, after all, no obvious reason to replace our existing ambassador to the United States at the start of this year. There was of course a new president coming into office but by all accounts Karen Pierce was diligent, effective and already well-networked with “Trumpworld”. All that counted for naught once the clever boys back in headquarters decided that this was to be their next clever move.

Whether the intent was internal party management or simply to win a few approving headlines for parachuting Mandelson in, a short-term tactical “win” was placed above long-term good governance. We have all become used to this approach from Conservative and SNP governments over the years but it is still disappointing – if unsurprising – to see the same now from Labour.

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Collaboration, not coercion

As a former Chief Whip, I can tell you that short-term fixes and heavy-handed treatment of MPs really only take you so far. If the Labour inner circle continue to treat their elected MPs with the sort of contempt we have seen in recent months then they are simply storing up problems for themselves.

If you cannot articulate a vision and bring people with you – through collaboration rather than coercion – sooner or later something is going to snap. If the mutterings around parliament are anything to go by, then that snapping point may be well on its way.

All indications, however, are that Labour’s “inner circle” approach to government is going to continue – even if it ends with Keir Starmer bounced out of Downing Street. If I had a pound for every time that those very clever people at the top made catastrophic errors of judgment, I really would have a lot of money.

Alistair Carmichael is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland