As Lib Dem leader Ed Davey rightly said, the ‘original sin’ of the Mandelson vetting scandal was that the Labour peer was put up for the role of US ambassador in the first place.  

This point was hammered home by Dame Emily Thornberry during the grilling of Morgan McSweeney in the House of Commons today, where she pressed him about the attempts to give the former director of communications, Lord Matthew Doyle, a comfortable ambassadorial role.  

Dame Emily hit out: “Haven’t you heard of the phrase jobs for the boys?” 

She added it was “shameful” that Downing Street even considered giving someone a landing spot after they were sacked.  

Matthew Doyle was suspended for his association with a charged distributor of indecent images of children. 

However, Dame Emily’s argument also rings true for the controversial behaviour of Morgan McSweeney in trying to secure Mandelson the Washington job.  

Although McSweeney is attempting to rebut out against the tight-knit caricature of his relationship with Mandelson – their longstanding political allyship is unquestionable. 

Mandelson and McSweeney both started their political careers at Lambeth council – originally one of New Labour’s success stories, but by 2002 it took a hard fight from McSweeney to retake it from the Conservativesand Liberal Democrats.  

They were reintroduced later in their political lives by Labour peer Roger Liddle – …