Labour MP interview that got him suspended now published in full

On 31 March, we reported that Labour had suspended Karl Turner. Turner had criticised Labour’s plan to abolish jury trials as a universal right; he’d also given an interview to independent journalist and Canary contributor Jody McIntyre.

Following his suspension, Turner tried to distance himself from McIntyre. Now, McIntyre has set the record straight:

‘Lying bastard’ McSweeney still running Labour

As we reported at the time, much of Turner’s interview with McIntyre focussed on Morgan McSweeney:

The summary of the McSweeney scandal is as follows:

In full

Now, McIntyre has provided details on his full interview with Turner:

Karl Turner told me that he has been “good friends” with Keir Starmer for many years + texts the PM “things that are very f***ing private…that I don’t want everyone knowing”.

This didn’t stop Labour officials briefing against Turner’s mental health, calling him “mad” + “nuts”.

Karl Turner said to me that he believes Morgan McSweeney was worried that messages “slagging off the Prime Minister” would be uncovered on his “stolen” phone.

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He also claimed that the appointment of Peter Mandelson was the result of “weeks and weeks” of McSweeney’s lobbying.

On McSweeney, now ex-Labour MP Karl Turner told me: “I was texting Keir, ‘Sack this silly bastard immediately, you are making us all look like fools.’”

He also said that “McSwindle is a man with a history of being a lying bastard” who “needs checking out”.

McSweeney is indeed a man with a history of dishonesty, as we reported in 2024:

In a bizarre turn of events, the Guardian/Observer has revealed that Labour Party PM Keir Starmer’s top Downing Street aide Morgan McSweeney plotted to ‘destroy the Canary‘ – before ‘we destroyed the Labour right’. It shows not only how him and his closest cronies tried to kill us – but also how they brought about Jeremy Corbyn’s downfall. The intention all along? To install Starmer as Labour leader, and eventually PM.

‘the world’s biggest f***ing paedophile!’

Back to McIntyre, he added:

Karl Turner, the MP for East Hull, also complained that “McSweeney and [Matthew] Doyle, protégés of Mandelson, were asked to question a friend of the world’s biggest f***ing paedophile!”

Doyle had campaigned for a Scottish Labour councillor later convicted of child sex offences.

Labour’s recent and ongoing paedophile-related scandals include:

McIntyre continued:

A former MP I spoke to who served on Labour’s frontbench for five years identified Doyle as one of Morgan McSweeney’s “inner circle”.

The whistleblower told me: “The inner circle were tight. WhatsApp tight. They talked openly of…getting rid of every existing MP eventually.”

The former Labour frontbencher also told me that McSweeney installed his relatives “in the Whips’ office…to spy on people.”

McSweeney’s wife, Imogen Walker, was appointed assistant government whip last September.

Did Walker and/or McSweeney have a say in Turner’s suspension?

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When Karl Turner, the MP for East Hull, was suspended by Labour on Tuesday, he stated that the Whips’ Office had not bothered to call him, choosing to brief journalists instead.

Turner had been a consistent and blistering critic of McSweeney, telling me he “still runs the job”.

Karl Turner told me that he believed McSweeney’s stolen phone could reveal “vicious messages…calling the Prime Minister a f***ing idiot and listing the reasons why”.

Turner said this might include McSweeney and Mandelson expressing dismay at Starmer’s “crap” Chagos deal.

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When I asked now-independent MP Karl Turner directly if he thought Keir Starmer really believes Morgan McSweeney’s “stolen phone” story, he said it comes down to “psychology”:

“If you WANT to believe a person, then you will believe them rather than questioning every detail.”

At the end of the interview, Karl Turner told me that he “had to be careful” because Labour had been threatening him with suspension.

Within days, those threats came to fruition.

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Were his friendship with Starmer + years of service to Labour overcome by McSweeney’s influence?

Help him take on Labour

To be fair to Turner, he is apparently struggling with mental health issues; he’s also a member of one of the world’s most toxic political organisations. At the same time, though, he needs to clarify what points he thinks were “misinterpreted”, because we’re not seeing it.

You can support Jody McIntyre and the excellent work he does via the links below:

Featured image via Parliament