The prime minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is safe in his job, the communities secretary tells Sky News.

McSweeney is seen as close to Peter Mandelson and pushed for his appointment as UK ambassador to the US.

Asked by Sophy Ridge whether McSweeney is safe in his job, Steve Reed says:  “Yes, of course he is. 

“The problem when someone lies isn’t that they lie to you because they can be liars in any walk of life. It’s what happens when you find out you’ve been lied to. 

“And what the prime minister did months ago was contact Peter Mandelson at 5am in the morning and sack him on the spot from his job as US ambassador. That was absolutely decisive action.”

Sophy asks whether Lord Mandelson’s appointment was a massive misjudgement by McSweeney – but Reed says: “The person at fault here is not the prime minister or his team. It is Peter Mandelson who lied, manipulated and deceived everybody.”

Reed knows McSweeney well, and the two used to work together at Lambeth council in London.