Former Labour Deputy leader Tom Watson expressed concerns that Mr McSweeney may not get a ‘fair hearing’ before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday
Keir Starmer’s former top aide Morgan McSweeney should hire lawyers before facing MPs next week, the former Labour Deputy Leader has warned.
Tom Watson expressed concerns that Mr McSweeney may not get a “fair hearing” before the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Mr McSweeney dramatically quit in February, saying he took “full responsibility” for advising the PM to appoint Lord Mandelson as US ambassador as No10 was plunged into turmoil by the backlash over the peer’s ties to notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In an attack on the committee chair Emily Thornberry, Mr Watson accused her of “hogging time” during Sir Olly Robbins evidence this week, and that she was not getting to the facts.
Speaking to this newspaper, the Labour peer said: “You’ve seen the chair of the committee pointing the finger. It feels like she’s putting him on trial, not getting to the facts. To me it seems like Emily Thornberry has already made her mind up, and that she thinks Morgan McSweeney is guilty, that he’s on trial and she’s a prosecuting lawyer. He’s not going to get a fair hearing.
“I saw the Olly Robbins evidence, and I thought she hogged the time, and there was hardly any time to let the other committee members in. If I was Morgan McSweeney I’d be hiring lawyers because there’s severe reputational risk for him, with a committee chair who already seems to have made her mind up about him and is settling old scores.”
Mr Watson also dismissed accusations the PM had lied over the appointment. He said: “I was horrified to see Keir Starmer accused of lying. He clearly isn’t a liar, and the evidence to the committee shows that. But it does show he needs to spend more of his time assessing political risk in the decisions he makes.”
Mr Watson urged Labour MPs to come together, and focus on campaigning for the party. He said: “These MPs doing the briefings should calm down and support the vast majority of their parliamentary colleagues who are working night and day in the elections taking place in a few weeks time”.
It comes as a former senior Government official insisted the Mandelson scandal was not enough to see a change in PM. He said: “I think Olly Robins has come out of it or with his reputation pretty much intact, if not enhanced. I thought it was a compelling performance in front of the committee. For what it’s worth, I still don’t quite see this as the issue that ends his premiership, I mean, really?
“With all the stuff that’s going on with the Gulf, with the state visit to America coming up, with Ukraine still looking a long way from any resolution, with how ridiculous the Tories looked when they kept changing Prime Minister, do they really want to do this now?”.
Ms Thornberry declined to respond to Mr Watson’s comments.