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Sir Keir Starmer is refusing to remove Matthew Doyle from the House of Lords, despite widespread calls from Labour MPs following the latest sleaze scandal.

Lord Doyle, who served as Sir Keir's head of communications when he first entered Downing Street, was ennobled last year following his departure.

However, the Prime Minister is now accused of ignoring warnings about Lord Doyle's continued association with a paedophile former Labour councillor after he was charged.

Wednesday's PMQs was dominated by the row, as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the Prime Minister had demonstrated a pattern of behaviour in appointing the friends of paedophiles to high office following the Lord Mandelson scandal.

The Prime Minister's spokesman has now issued an astonishing update that Sir Keir will not move to remove Lord Doyle from the upper chamber.

At a post-PMQs briefing, the spokesman argued that doing so would "prejudice" Labour's ongoing internal investigation into Lord Doyle's support for the paedophile.

However, the statement sparked consternation, with many pointing out that Lord Mandelson has been forced to surrender his peerage despite an ongoing police investigation.

The move also came despite Labour's own chairwoman, Anna Turley, publicly saying Lord Doyle should lose his peerage.

The Redcar MP told Sky News there was "no place" for him in the Lords.

While Downing Street cannot unilaterally remove a peer, the Government can introduce bespoke legislation to do so.

In May 2017, Lord Doyle travelled to Scotland to campaign for Sean Morton, who at that time had already appeared in court in connection with possessing indecent images of children.

Morton continued to protest his innocence at the time Lord Doyle was campaigning for him, eventually pleading guilty in November.

Lord Doyle has said he had "extremely limited" contact with the disgraced politician, describing his offences as "vile".

He added: "My thoughts are with the victims and all those impacted by these crimes."

At PMQs, Mrs Badenoch accused Sir Keir of "stuffing Government with hypocrites and paedophile apologists".

The Tory leader asked: "Isn't the Prime Minister ashamed that will be his legacy?"