Trevor Philips has slammed Labour’s “tawdry and chaotic” start to its time in office as he told a government minister they have so far been no better than the Tories were.
The veteran broadcaster clashed with Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on Sky News in the wake of transport secretary Louise Haigh’s resignation.
She left her job after it emerged she pleaded guilty to fraud in 2014.
Phillips read out a list of the controversies and scandals which have hit Labour since the election in July.
They included the row over hospitality for PMs, Labour donor Lord Alli buying clothes and glasses for Keir Starmer and his wife and then receiving a security pass to Downing Street, and the sacking of Sue Gray.
Phillips told McFadden: “You spent four years in opposition never missing an opportunity to make a song and dance about Tory morality and chaos. You promised change.
“Then we got the Taylor Swift tickets, the suits, the dresses, the glasses, the No.10 passes, the chief of staff sacked inside six months.
“It all makes you look just as tawdry and chaotic as your predecessors, doesn’t it?”
But McFadden said: “I don’t accept that for a minute. If you take this Louise Haigh situation. The story came to light, was dealt with very quickly, Louise decided to resign by the end of the day.
“This isn’t something that dragged on for weeks. It isn’t something where there had to be endless stories about it before action was taken, and within 24 hours we have a new transport secretary.
“So I think the parallel you’re trying to draw doesn’t work. In fact, the speed at which this happened shows that.”
He added: “People will do things wrong, and these things will come to light, and how you deal with them and how you respond is part of how this works and there’s a big contrast [with the Tories] there.”
