"Bookhaus launches The Fraud, journalist Paul Holden’s brisk tour through post-Corbyn Labour’s internal plumbing. Drawing on leaked party documents, it tracks Keir Starmer’s ascent, the shadowy influence of adviser Morgan McSweeney, and allegations of manipulation, broken pledges, and mystery money."
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See event details
A
event
held at Bookhaus
on Tuesday 20th January. The event starts at 18:00.
The Fraud
Keir Starmer, Morgan McSweeney, and the Crisis of British Democracy
Based on Labour Party files, including some never publicly seen before, this explosive investigation lays bare the intrigues, stratagems, and deceits that helped deliver Sir Keir Starmer to Downing Street.
Paul Holden shows how Starmer has been the frontman for a ruthless, right-wing political project headed by Morgan McSweeney, now chief of staff in Number 10 and arguably the most powerful man in Britain.
McSweeney’s clique often employed dirty tricks to undermine the left-wing Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, fuelling a moral panic over antisemitism and establishing front groups that hobbled prominent independent media outlets in the name of fighting ‘misinformation’.
McSweeney then guided Starmer to the Labour leadership on a platform that Starmer, once in office, almost instantly betrayed. Having conquered the party on false pretences, McSweeney and his allies set about purging opponents, marginalising the membership, and dragging party policy to the right.
These machinations were made possible by financial donations that McSweeney did not disclose—a violation of the law that arguably subverted Britain’s democratic system. But was McSweeney’s unlawful failure to report donations a mistake—or was it deliberate?
This is a sordid tale that includes hacked emails, anonymous smears, dodgy dossiers, cynical stitch-ups, and staggering hypocrisy. It traces the Labour Party’s transformation into a censorial, authoritarian machine, and sounds the alarm about the possible corruption of British politics by dark money.
Paul Holden will be at bookhaus with Andrew Feinstein and will be in conversation with our Manager Darran. Tickets cost £7 and include £3 off the book. Presented by bookhaus.
A sensational investigative exposé of the manipulations and machinations that helped bring Sir Keir Starmer to power.
“A meticulous account of the destructive political project that brought us the shambolic Starmer government. Told with controlled fury and filled with explosive revelations—essential.”
—Owen Jones
“Beautifully elucidates Starmer’s careen from the honourable left to the racist right of British politics.”
—Peter Oborne
“The ‘devastating’ tell-all book that could end Keir Starmer.”
—The Daily Mail