Starmer urged to withdraw peerage for adviser amid sex offender row
Ex-Downing Street comms chief Matthew Doyle is under fire over his links to disgraced Sean Morton
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to withdraw a peerage for a former adviser who campaigned for a councillor charged with child sex offences.
Matthew Doyle, who was the Downing Street director of communications until March, continued to support Sean Morton after he was charged over indecent images of children in December 2016.
Morton, a former Labour councillor in Moray, later admitted possessing indecent pictures of girls under 15 and extreme pornography.
Mr Doyle is due to take a seat in the House of Lords in the coming weeks. The Sunday Times reported No 10 was aware of his links to Morton when it nominated him.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: "Questions regarding Matthew Doyle's past acquaintance with Sean Morton were thoroughly investigated, including through several interviews with Matthew Doyle, prior to his appointment [to the Lords]."
Mr Doyle told The Sunday Times: "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."
Earlier this month, Pam Duncan-Glancy quit as Labour’s education spokeswoman in Holyrood over her friendship with Morton. She later announced she will not run again at the election in May.
Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said Mr Doyle’s appointment to the Lords should now be halted.
In a letter to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, which vets nominations, he said: "Keir Starmer must immediately do the right thing and withdraw the peerage for Mr Doyle - that is his responsibility.
“Yet, if he fails to do so, I urge the committee to block the appointment to prevent the House of Lords falling further into disrepute.
"The fact that Keir Starmer chose to protect Lord Peter Mandelson and retain the Labour Party whip, despite his links to convicted sex offender and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, suggests it is unlikely the Prime Minister will do the right thing now.
"Serious questions remain over what Keir Starmer and Scottish Labour Party leader Anas Sarwar knew about the links of their senior spokespersons to this convicted sex offender.
"Regardless, it would be a damning indictment of the House of Lords if it were to appoint yet another Labour Party peer with established links to sex offenders.”
Mr Doyle campaigned for Morton in May 2017, when he ran as an independent council candidate. He was pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Re-elect Sean Morton".
Morton had been charged a few months earlier, but did not admit to offences until later that year. He had initially vowed to clear his name, claiming he did not know "what this is all based on".
In November 2017, he admitted one charge of "taking or permitting to be taken" indecent photographs of children and another of possessing extreme pornographic material.
Ms Duncan-Glancy, who represents the Glasgow region, said she had made a "serious error of personal judgement" over her continued friendship with Morton.
In a statement, she said: "I am announcing today that I am withdrawing as a candidate for the Scottish Parliamentary election next year.
"While this has obviously been a very difficult decision - and it is the greatest honour of my life to represent Glasgow - I do not wish for a personal friendship to become a distraction.”
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