Esther McVey tells the Daily Expresso podcast that Sir Keir Starmer is plotting to “destroy the evidence” of his time in the CPS.
Sir Keir Starmer’s secret plan to stop people from digging into his time as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has been exposed by a senior Conservative. Esther McVey suggested that the Prime Minister is plotting to shut down the open justice project Courtsdesk to prevent further analysis of his time as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) during an appearance on the Daily Expresso podcast. HM Courts and Tribunal Service announced that the digital platform, designed to help journalists report from Britain’s criminal courts, would be shut down over a “data protection issue” this week, including the deletion of all files on record.
Ms McVey said: “Why would they want to destroy all the evidence? Well, their excuse is that this is a data handling issue. That’s what they’re saying. Whereas other people are saying, ‘No, no, this is about open justice here and who controls the information of criminal cases’. “I’m just going to throw it out there. He now knows people are going to start digging into [his time] as the DPP when he was at the CPS, right? All of those court cases, all of those transcripts from the court cases will be there. He doesn’t want anybody to see it.”
The Prime Minister has faced calls to resign this week over the Peter Mandelson scandal (Image: Getty)
The MP for Tatton said the scandal over Sir Keir’s appointment of Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as US ambassador would give critics fresh motivation to dig into his past.
Sir Keir was head of the CPS between November 2008 and October 2013, overseeing major cases including the decision not to prosecute Jimmy Saville, who was later revealed to be a prolific sex offender.
Ms McVey said the “destruction” of Courtsdesk data would stop journalists from digging up further information about his past and encouraged speculation of why the move was being made now, after days of pressure on the PM to resign.
“He should have been removed this week,” she added. “He’s dripping poison into his party and more importantly he’s also dripping it into the country. Whilst he’s ever trying to survive, he’s not doing work.”
Sir Keir faced an immediate threat to his leadership earlier this week, when Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called for him to quit amid the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal.
The furore also resulted in two departures from Downing Street, with chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and communications chief Tim Allen announcing their resignations within days of each other.
The PM’s judgement also came under renewed scrutiny in a row over the appointment of his ex-communications chief Matthew Doyle to the House of Lords after the aide campaigned for a sex offender who had been charged by police.
