This article is about the British political strategist. For the Australian actor, see John McTernan (actor). For the American filmmaker, see John McTiernan.
During the 2006–07 police investigation into the Cash for Honours political scandal surrounding the Labour Party, McTernan was twice questioned, under caution, by the Metropolitan Police.[5][6][8] No criminal charges were ever brought against McTernan or anybody else.
In January 2008, while McTernan was employed as a special adviser to the Secretary of State for Scotland, it emerged that in 2002 McTernan had branded Scotland as being "narrow" and "racist" during the period he worked for the Scottish Arts Council. In an email to the then Labour MSPKaren Gillon, who was about to make a trip to Sweden, McTernan wrote: "If you've not been to Sweden before, I think you'll really like it – it's the country Scotland would be if it wasn't narrow, Presbyterian, racist etc. etc. Social democracy in action."[10] The email was obtained by the London Sunday Times under freedom of information legislation.[11][12]
During 2012–13, a political scandal erupted over his employment. Accusations were made that Gillard had not attempted to find a suitable Australian candidate for the director of communications post, but had flouted Australia's visa process to employ John McTernan, a British citizen, on a 457 visa – a foreign workers scheme which is designed for employers who cannot find local candidates to fill jobs.[15] When a reporter from Australia's ABC News asked McTernan if he was working in Australia on a 457 visa, he replied "hardly fucking relevant".[16][17]
Later career
In January 2015, McTernan was appointed chief of staff to Jim Murphy, then Scottish Labour leader, ahead of the 2015 general election, and oversaw media and policy in this role.[18]
McTernan strongly opposed Jeremy Corbyn, the eventual winner, in the 2015 Labour leadership election, describing Corbyn's popularity as a "strange psychological emotional spasm". He said: "I can't see any case for letting him have two minutes in office, let alone two years in office because I think the damage that will be done to the Labour party in that period makes it incredibly hard to recover".[19][20] The MPs who nominated Corbyn were "moronic", according to McTernan.[21]
Following the 2016 revelations about David Cameron's earlier offshore earnings, and Corbyn's call for an investigation,[22] McTernan argued in his Daily Telegraph column that tax avoidance is an expression of basic British freedoms.[23]
In February 2016 McTernan joined the policy and media advice agency Westminster Policy Institute as an associate.[24] He continued to write a regular column for The Daily Telegraph.[25]
In November 2016, McTernan bet blogger Stuart Campbell $100 on a Clinton victory in the 2016 US presidential election, which he lost. Campbell has said that McTernan failed to honour the bet, and Campbell has taken court action against him.[26]
In August 2017 McTernan joined the Labour Party left-wing pressure group Momentum, set up to support Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. McTernan had previously been a critic of Momentum and of Corbyn.[27]
In October 2018, John McTernan was asked if he still defended the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He responded in the affirmative: "Any war against a fascist dictator is a good war."[28] He went on to compare the war in Iraq to the Falklands War, the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. "As my Kurdish friends say 'We never ask why did you invade, we ask why did you take so long?'," said McTernan. He went on to argue that Brexit was the result of a lack of a humanitarian intervention in the Syrian civil war because it would have prevented the refugee crisis.[citation needed]
In November 2024, Prime Minister Keir Starmer distanced himself from McTernan following comments he made on GB News while discussing inheritance tax rises in the budget which would affect farmers. He said that that family farming is “an industry we can do without" and suggested that if farmers protested "we can do to them what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners”.[29]
^Magnus Gardham (9 January 2015). "Senior Blair aide to head Jim Murphy's backroom team". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 8 April 2016. He will work alongside the party's new deputy leader, Kezia Dugdale, and oversee Scottish Labour's media and policy operations.
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