呼吁重新考虑赋予内阁大臣的“准司法”权力，例如能源大臣有权批准未来的油气田。
has called for a rethink of "quasi-judicial" powers given to cabinet ministers such as the energy secretary's ability to approve future oil and gas fields.
麦克斯威尼曾帮助斯塔默上台执政，并担任其幕僚长至今年早些时候。他表示，他认为“准司法程序”阻碍了内阁进行更广泛的讨论，也阻碍了首相就国家重要议题发表意见。
McSweeney, who helped propel Starmer to power and served as his chief of staff until earlier this year, said he believed "quasi-judicial processes" were stopping wider cabinet discussions and input from the prime minister on issues of national importance.
他没有举出具体例子，但斯塔默任内关键的准司法决定之一，包括埃德·米利班德在决定罗斯班克和杰克道油气田未来中所发挥的作用。这两块油气田后来交由接替他出任能源大臣的米亚塔·法恩布拉处理。
He did not draw on any specific examples, but one of the key quasi-judicial decisions under Starmer included Ed Miliband's role in determining the future of the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields, which were subsequently put in the hands of his successor as energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh.
住房和地方政府大臣史蒂夫·里德也有权决定是否批准中国在伦敦东部新建超级大使馆。
n housing and local government secretary, Steve Reed, also had the power to decide whether to give the go-ahead to a new Chinese super-embassy in east London.
麦克斯威尼在英国上议院宪法委员会作证时说，准司法程序阻碍了政府工作。他还呼吁清除围绕首相运作方式的“繁杂规则”。
Speaking to the House of Lords constitution committee, McSweeney said the quasi-judical processes were obstructing government work. He also called for the "thicket of rules" about how the prime minister operates to be cleared away.
他举例说，斯塔默曾被告知，不应致信内阁大臣列明其优先事项并要求他们汇报进展，因为这违反惯例。
As an example, he cited Starmer being advised he should not issue letters to cabinet ministers setting out their priorities and asking them for progress updates as it was against convention.
他说，宪政民主面临压力，不仅来自滥用权力的威胁，也来自政府未能兑现其当选时所承诺的计划。
He said constitutional democracy was under pressure not just from the threat of abuse of power but also from the failure of governments to deliver the programmes on which they were elected.
“有相当多的规则规范首相的权力……每一条都应被识别出来，规则应该更少，而且现有的规则应当有其正当理由。”
"There are quite a lot of rules that govern the prime minister's powers … every single one of them. They should be identified and there should be fewer of them and they should be justified, the ones that are there.
“那些防止滥用权力的规定应当保留。其他所有规定都需要通盘考虑，不能只看每一条单独的规定，还要看所有这些规定累积起来的效果。”他说，有些规定阻碍政府以所需的速度运转，也阻碍政府履行其合法职责。他还建议，首相的权力应当写下来，加以明文规定。
"Ones that prevent abuse of power should be kept. Everything else needs be looked at in the round, not just each individual one but the cumulative effect of all of them." He said some of the rules prevented the government operating at the speed that it needed to and stopped it carrying out its lawful mandate, and he suggested the prime minister's powers should be codified by being written down.
麦克斯威尼表示，问题不在于个别规定，而在于各种惯例累积起来形成的重负束缚了首相。
McSweeney said it was not about individual issues but the accumulation of the weight of conventions that held the prime minister back.
斯塔默过去也曾公开表示，他对无法像自己希望的那样调动那么多权力杠杆感到沮丧。
Starmer has also been open in the past about his frustration at not being able to pull as many levers of power as he might have wanted.
麦克斯威尼于今年2月辞职，原因是他与任命彼得·曼德尔森为美国大使的决定关系密切。他在今年早些时候的一次采访中承认，斯塔默上任时，工党对执政以及对动荡的世界准备得都不够充分。
McSweeney quit in February because of his closeness to the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. He admitted in an interview earlier this year that Labour had not been prepared enough for government or for the volatile world when Starmer took office.
这位前唐宁街10号助手曾是工党的选举操盘手，党内许多人将2024年大选的巨大胜利归功于他，但他表示，工党对于如何为希望变革的民众迅速办成事情，想法还不够充分。
The former No 10 aide had been the party's elections guru, credited by many in the party for the size of their victory in 2024 but said Labour did not have enough of an idea about how to make things happen quickly for people who wanted change.