3amago 14.21 GMT
Labour pressure group Mainstream has called for a “total overhaul of
personnel” in Downing Street amid the fallout from the Peter Mandelson
scandal.
The group’s interim council, which includes MP Alex Sobel, said his
appointment was “the direct result of a corrosive political culture that must
be torn out by its roots”.
They added:
414 A failure of this magnitude does not happen by accident. It requires a system
that elevates factional loyalty over integrity, that values connections over
character and that treats rigorous vetting as an inconvenience.
Everyone who participated in this process - from those who championed the
appointment, to those who turned a blind eye, to those who silenced doubts in
the name of political convenience - must be held to account.
Criticising a “politics of deference and backroom patronage”, they called for
an end to “a culture that fears internal challenge”.
They said:
44 While this is a systemic failure, those who designed and operated the system
cannot evade consequence. True accountability means a total overhaul of
personnel, of process and of the rotten priorities that brought us here. We will
not settle for less.
