It’s a blockbuster day in parliament today. To kick things off, we had Philip Barton up pleading ignorance; to close the proceedings tonight we have a vote on a possible Privileges Committee probe. But in between we have Morgan McSweeney, the longtime bête noire of the Labour left, giving testimony on the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador. McSweeney pushed hard for Mandy to be given the gig: a decision he now bitterly regrets…
Much of McSweeney’s session was spent putting as much distance between himself and Mandelson as possible, insisting that he did not speak to the Labour grandee regularly until 2021 by which time he was ’44 years old’. But perhaps the most revealing moment came at the beginning of the exchange with Emily Thornberry when he issued an apology to the committee. McSweeney said that it was only following the publication of the Epstein files, that he discovered the truth about the Labour grandee’s closeness to the paedophile financier. That, he declared, was ‘a knife to the soul’. And to this government’s political prospects too…
Admitting his wrongdoing, the deposed Downing Street aide claimed he made a made a ‘serious error of judgment’ in recommending Mandy to Sir Keir Starmer. He told Thornberry:
I advised the Prime Minister in support of that appointment, and I was wrong to do so. Accountability in public life cannot apply only when it is convenient. The Prime Minister advised, relied on my advice, and I got it wrong. What I did do was make a recommendation based on my judgment that man’s experience, relationships and political skills could serve the national interest in Washington at an important moment. That judgment was a mistake.
McSweeney also didn’t miss the opportunity to lob a grenade at former foe and predecessor as Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Sue Gray… remember her? He said that during access talks with the civil service, ahead of the general election, the Partygate inquisitor made all too clear that the PM wanted a political appointee as US ambo – not a career diplomat. Old enmities die hard, eh Morgan?
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