The Morgan McSweeney Evidence
4/28/202636 min
Today, MPs have voted that Keir Starmer should not face an inquiry into whether he misled Parliament over the appointment of Lord Mandelson.
MPs vote 335 to 223 against a Tory-led motion. During the debate, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it's "very obvious" Starmer told the Commons things that were "not correct". No 10 accused the conservatives of a "desperate political stunt.
Adam, Joe and Alex react to the vote. They also look back on Morgan McSweeney, a former chief of staff to Starmer, giving his account of the Mandelson appointment. In it McSweeney said he made a “serious mistake” in advising the PM to appoint the former US ambassador.
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New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Joe Wilkinson. The social producer was Jem Westgate. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAdam Fleming· Host0:00
Hello. Lots of different strands of the Peter Mandelson vetting story converged in Westminster today. Can a strand converge? Well, I guess they can now. At the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Dame Emily Thornberry, we had Philip Barton, who was the predecessor to Sir Olly Robbins as the chief civil servant in the Foreign Office, giving evidence, and then box office this, Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister's former chief of staff, and somebody who's issued the spotlight, was very much in the spotlight for about two hours. Then we had this vote on whether Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, should be referred to the Privileges Committee, which had been triggered by the opposition parties. And then we got an update on what is happening with all those documents about Peter Mandelson's appointment that are being released as part of the so-called humble address, that parliamentary maneuver triggered by the Conservatives a few months ago. So there were lots of things to talk about, and it was a very, very interesting day that involved watching hours and hours and hours of what was going on in Parliament. But luckily, we had a top team of people doing that for you on this episode of Newscast.
Speaker 11:05
Newscast.
Alex Forsyth1:06
Newscast.
Joe Pike1:07
From the BBC. Humanity's next great voyage begins.
Adam Fleming· Host1:10
We are in the midst of a rupture.
Joe Pike1:12
Nostalgia will not bring back the old order. Six-seven.
Speaker 41:16
Six-seven.
Joe Pike1:17
Yeah. It's supposed to be me as a doctor. That it has, has also a special connotation.
Speaker 51:21
Ooh la la.
Adam Fleming· Host1:22
Thinking about it like a panto helped.
Joe Pike1:24
Do we play music now, or what do we do?
Adam Fleming· Host1:26
Hello, it's Adam in the Newscast studio.
Alex Forsyth1:28
And it's Alex in the Westminster