Lord Doyle has whip suspended over links to sex offender

Keir Starmer’s former director of communications Lord Doyle has had the Labour whip suspended over his links to a convicted sex offender.

Doyle apologised for his past association with former Labour councillor Sean Morton, who pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children, which had included campaigning for him as an independent candidate after he had been charged with those offences and suspended from Labour membership.

Labour Party chair Anna Turley has said that Doyle, who was elevated to the Lords last month, should be stripped of his peerage and claimed that Downing Street was unaware of his continuing links with Morton.

Glasgow MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy has also had the whip withdrawn in the Scottish Parliament for her continued links with Morton.

She stood down in December as Scottish Labour’s education spokesperson and has said she will not stand for re-election in May.

It comes after Peter Mandelson’s close relationship with the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein was revealed, which included allegedly sharing sensitive information with him while he served in Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

Mandelson resigned from the House of Lords last week, with the government now seeking to strip him of his title.

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