Former senior aide to Starmer loses whip over friendship with sex offender

Labour peer Matthew Doyle has apologised for links to Sean Morton who was convicted of possession of indecent images of children

Keir Starmer's longstanding communications chief has been suspended from the Labour whip in his new role in the Lords after it emerged that he had campaigned on behalf of a friend who had been charged with possessing indecent images of children.

Matthew Doyle, who stepped down as the No 10 head of communications last March and was made a peer in December, said in a statement that he apologised for his links to Sean Morton, a former Labour councillor in Scotland who was convicted in 2018 of possessing the images.