McSweeney Denies Bullying Claims, Set to Testify

0:00On April 24th, Morgan McSweeney, Kear Starmer's former chief of staff, is denying claims he bullied foreign office officials to approve Peter. Mandelson, as the UK ambassador to the United States, witnesses say he called the top civil servant and demanded quick sign-off on the peer's nomination, but McSweeney says that version of events doesn't. Sound like him at all. Earlier this week, the Foreign Affairs Committee heard from ousted foreign office chief Ali Robbins, who described an atmosphere of heavy pressure, and non-stop follow-ups from Downing Street to rush through Mandelson's vetting process. Labor insiders are furious over Starmer's handling of the mess, putting extra strain on his grip at number 10. McSweeney resigned back in February, admitting he took full responsibility for advising the Prime Minister on what turned out to be the wrong pick for. The job? Downing Street has pushed back hard, insisting no bullying or arm twisting happen from McSweeney's side. He also called for a complete revamp of how these high-level appointments get vetted in the first place. McSweeney heads to the committee next week to give his side, and this could shake things up even more for Starmer as the scandal keeps unfolding.