Starmer faces PMQs amid pressure over why ex-No 10 aide friendly with sex offender was given peerage – UK politics live

2026-02-11 - 09:35

Labour has removed the whip from Matthew Doyle, Starmer’s former director of communications, who only recently became a peer Georgia Gould, an education minister, has been the government voice on the airwaves this morning. In an interview with Sky News, she said that when No 10 announced that Matthew Doyle was being made a peer in December, it did not know that he had campaigned for someone who was subsequently convicted of paedophile offences. There’s an investigation going on. We’ll wait for that to conclude. But the prime minister said on Monday night that we want to ensure the highest standards in public life. He’s gone back and looked at this appointment. He’s taken action to withdraw the whip. We’re taking it incredibly seriously. And Keir Starmer is somebody who has spent his whole career putting people into prison, And this is his lifelong work. It is deeply important to him. And no one is harder on themselves than the prime minister. But he’s clear that things need to change. Vetting has to be better. Continue reading...