Suspended Labour MP claims No10 behind smears about his mental health after he challenged Starmer on jury reforms

A Labor MP who was suspended from the party after claiming Sir Keir Starmer’s former aide Morgan McSweeney lied about her phone being stolen has publicly accused No 10 of trying to smear her by questioning her mental health.

Kingston upon Hull East MP Karl Turner, who is campaigning against plans to limit jury trials, told The Mail on Sunday that he had made it clear to the Prime Minister that ‘being principled does not make me mentally ill’.

Mr Turner lost his whip last October after mocking Mr McSweeney’s insistence that his mobile phone had been stolen; Meanwhile, MPs were pressing for the disclosure of cables that could explain why Peter Mandelson was appointed as the UK’s ambassador to the US despite his links to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Turner’s description of his former Downing Street chief of staff as ‘McSwindle’ appeared to be the tipping point for No 10 after weeks of criticism.

Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds said he had suspended the whip ‘following his recent behaviour’.

Now Mr Turner has revealed that before he was suspended, he sent a solicitor’s letter to Mr Reynolds, copied to Sir Keir and members of the Cabinet, in which he claimed senior government officials had questioned his mental state and linked it to his rebellion against juries.

The letter said Mr Turner was ‘not and still is not mentally ill… His honest challenge to the Government, both rationally and thoughtfully, was not a result of his mental health failing but the result of doing what he thought was right’.

Sir Keir acknowledged receiving the letter, while Cabinet ministers including Rachel Reeves also expressed their sympathy in response.

Mr Turner lost the whip after mocking Sir Keir Starmer’s former aide Morgan McSweeney (pictured outside Downing Street in March last year) for insisting her phone had been stolen last October as MPs pressed for cables about Peter Mandelson to be disclosed.

Labor chief Jonathan Reynolds (pictured) said he was suspending the whip ‘following his recent behaviour’

Mr Turner said there was ‘all sorts of nonsense going on behind the scenes’ after he first expressed his opposition to jury reforms.

He said: ‘The MPs came up to me and said, ‘Are you okay? It was claimed that I was psychologically disturbed and therefore opposed the reforms.

‘Whips do unpleasant things. I met Jonny Reynolds in December, long before the jury debate in January.

‘Reynolds hinted to me that I might be uncomfortable at that point. I exploded at him. “It was a very loud argument.”

Mr Turner said he had a psychotic episode in 2019 and a ‘difficult time’ after briefly splitting from his wife last year, but he opposed dismissing juries because it was wrong, not because he was ill.

He said he clashed with David Lammy after he suggested the Justice Secretary had not done the necessary work to find alternatives to jury trials.

‘David said to me: “I’m not putting up with this, especially as a black man.”‘

A No 10 spokesman said there was no justification for Mr Turner’s belief that the party was trying to smear him.