By Isle of Wight Observer
Dear Editor,
The latest revelations reported about a former aide of Keir Starmer who campaigned for a convicted child abuser being handed a peerage are nothing short of shameful. What troubles me most is not only the individual lapse in judgement, but the wider pattern it exposes: a Government that appears, at times, to operate less like a public institution and more like an employment agency for the well connected, no matter how low their morals are.
Our Prime Minister was apparently aware of the situation before plain old Matthew Doyle became Lord Doyle. That alone should have triggered the most basic alarm bells. Instead, the peerage seems to have been waved through – doubtless because the Peter Mandelson scandal had not yet hit the headlines. How can the public have confidence in those who hold high office when political patronage appears to override common sense? And what did a former communications officer do anyway to be given a job for life in the House of Lords?
This is not about party politics. It is about standards in public life, and the absolute duty of those in power to protect the vulnerable and behave with decency. When people with links to serious offenders are given positions of influence because they happen to know the right people, something has gone profoundly wrong.
We are constantly told that lessons will be learned, that processes will be reviewed, that this time things will be different. Yet here we are again, reading about yet another failure of judgement at the highest levels. The public deserves better.
We deserve a Government that treats safeguarding the vulnerable as a sacred responsibility, not an optional extra and only puts people in the House of Lords who have actually contributed something to our county – not simply worked for the Prime Minister – when doubtless he was well remunerated.
R Wilson, Ryde