Keir Starmer to face vote which could spark probe into whether he misled MPs over Mandelson
Sir Keir Starmer faces judgment day on Tuesday and MPs will vote on whether he will face an inquiry into allegations he misled parliament over the Peter Mandelson inquiry saga.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs on Monday they would be allowed to debate whether the prime minister should be sent to the powerful House of Commons Privileges Committee for an inquiry into his disgraced counterpart’s appointment as US ambassador.
The committee was responsible for Boris Johnson’s departure from frontline politics after investigating him for misleading Parliament about “party door” breaches of Covid-19 laws in Downing Street.
The inquiry will examine whether Sir Keir misled MPs when he claimed “due process” was followed in Lord Mandelson’s appointment and there was “no pressure”.
It comes after it was revealed that the Foreign Office had decided to appoint Lord Mandelson despite his failure in the investigation process.
As it first appeared IndependentMPs from both houses of Parliament, including Labor, are understood to have written to demand that the parliamentary committee dealing with serious disciplinary issues investigate the Prime Minister.
Sir Keir faces the vote on Tuesday; On the same day, his former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, will be questioned by MPs about his role in Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly told MPs that he and his ministers had only learned that the UK Security Review had recommended last Tuesday evening that Lord Mandelson should not be cleared for the role. Independent It raised concerns that it failed to review last September and failed to publish a front-page story about it, leading to allegations of a cover-up.
Labour’s huge majority in the House of Commons means such a vote will almost certainly not pass, but it could still harm the prime minister.
Some MPs and former MPs cited precedents set during the Partygate inquiry into Mr Johnson, where the Conservatives did not use their majority to oppose the inquiry and MPs on the committee “put the party second” in finding him guilty.
But concerns are growing among Labor MPs across sections of the party that the government is planning a whip to disrupt the vote.
A member of parliament on the right of the party stated that his colleagues wanted to withdraw from parliament so that they would not be accused of cover-up.
They said: “I think it would be a great excuse to be overlooked for the campaign.”
Another from the left of the party questioned why Sir Keir wanted to avoid an investigation when he was as innocent as he claimed.
They said: “The question many MPs are asking is, if the Prime Minister is clear and confident that he has done nothing wrong, why doesn’t he demand a clean bill of health from the committee and spare MPs and Council candidates the drama and controversy of a debate and vote tomorrow?”
But the revolt is unlikely to be a major revolt in voting lobbies, with the expectation that Labor MPs will be more likely to voice their unease in the debate.
A Labor MP said: Independent: “I understand that this will be a whiplash vote for the government to be successful. So I think the points that need to be made will be raised in the debate.”
However, the Conservative Party will claim that they do not oppose the motion after Boris Johnson was referred to the commission on the grounds that he misled parliament.
A former Cabinet minister said: “We have set a precedent, but I think we have some moral authority on that because of the way we have allowed an investigation into Boris. It’s a matter of putting integrity before party.”
Sir Ed Davey also pressured Sir Keir not to whip MPs to object to his referral to the Privileges Committee, saying: “Even Boris Johnson didn’t stop MPs from voting for the review.
“MPs should be given a free vote on any motion to direct Starmer, not forced to be complicit in a cover-up.”
At the weekend, Cabinet minister Darren Jones insisted there was “no case to answer” and accused the Conservatives of “using tactics” ahead of local elections when asked about the possibility of Sir Keir being referred to a tawdry inquiry.
The Minister told the BBC: Sunday Morning with Laura Kuenssberg program: “You must remember, what are these privileges committees about? It was last used when Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that there was no party in Downing Street.”
“He was later shown to be in five of them and received fines from the police. That’s what these processes are for, so the opposition is just using tactics to distract from the fact that the government is doing good work in this pre-election period.”
Asked whether it was right to hold an investigation and clarify different interpretations of what happened, Mr Jones added: “As I understand the case, there is no case to answer.”
