Why does Keir Starmer keep promoting the friends of paedos?
The News Agents
Global
4.1 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2026
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Keir Starmer came away from a bruising Prime Minister's Questions encounter having to explain why he appeared to make the same mistake twice. No sooner had the fallout from the Mandelson appointment settled (briefly) than the question of why he’d sent another friend of a paedo to the House of Lords.
This time it’s his former comms director Matthew Doyle who admitted his error of judgment in campaigning for a sex offender after he was charged by police. What does it tell us about Downing Street, vetting and the House of Lords?
Later, is the story of the Murdoch dynasty essentially one of emotional abuse? We’re with author and insider Gabriel Sherman.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Newsagents podcast is brought to you by HSBC UK, opening up a world of opportunity. |
| 0:09.0 | This is a global player original podcast. |
| 0:12.5 | How dare he criticise us? We want the one stuffing government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists. |
| 0:19.2 | He can't build a team, Mr Speaker. He has no plan. He can't build a team, Mr. Speaker. |
| 0:21.7 | He has no plan. |
| 0:23.1 | He can't even run his own office, let alone the country. |
| 0:26.1 | He is now dealing with a new scandal of appointing someone |
| 0:30.1 | who campaigned for a man convicted of having indecent pictures of girls as young as 10. |
| 0:39.3 | Isn't the Prime Minister ashamed that that will be his legacy? |
| 0:44.3 | That is the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenock, at Prime Minister's questions. |
| 0:48.3 | Once again, lacerating the Prime Minister for appointing someone who had made excuses for had continued a friendship with |
| 0:56.9 | a paedophile. This is not Peter Mandelson, but instead the Prime Minister's former head of communications |
| 1:03.3 | who he put in the House of Lords, Matthew Doyle. So why is the Number 10 vetting system |
| 1:09.1 | backfiring so spectacularly? |
| 1:11.9 | And why does the Prime Minister appear to keep making the same mistake? |
| 1:16.3 | Welcome to the newsagents. |
| 1:22.2 | The Newsagents. |
| 1:23.9 | It's Lewis. |
| 1:24.6 | It's Emily. |
| 1:25.2 | And a little bit later, we're going to be hearing from the author of Bonfire of the Murdox, Gabriel Sherman. |
| 1:31.0 | He's just written a book which explodes the family dynamics at the heart of one of the world's most powerful empires. |
| 1:38.0 | Meanwhile, back to Prime Minister's Questions. |
... |
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