Lee Anderson kicked from Commons – he wont stop calling Starmer a liar | Politics | News
Lee Anderson refuses to withdraw accusation of ‘lying’ (Image: Parliament TV)
Reform MP Lee Anderson has been expelled from the House of Commons after accusing Sir Keir Starmer of “lying” about the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. The fiery speech took place in the middle of the Prime Minister’s parliamentary statement on the Mandelson review scandal.
Sir Keir was accused of misleading Parliament after repeatedly assuring MPs that “due process” had been followed. He said he was “furious” that he was not told his disgraced colleague had failed his vetting. Mr Anderson said: “The problem with the Prime Minister is that no one believes him. The public do not believe him. MPs on this side of the House do not believe him. His own gullible supporters do not believe him. So does the Prime Minister agree with me or is he lying?”
Parliament rules prohibit MPs from calling each other liars. The Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, intervened in Monday’s session to say: “We are sorry we do not use those words and I am sure the member has withdrawn them.”
But the Ashfield MP hit back: “Mr Speaker, I have great respect for you and your office, but I will not hold this back. This man cannot lie flat in bed.”
The speaker then asked Mr. Anderson to leave.
Keir Starmer says he is ‘furious’ at not being told about investigation (Image: Getty)
Lord Mandelson was appointed as Britain’s ambassador to the US but was later sacked after more information emerged about his former Labor colleague’s relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Sir Keir insists he was not aware Lord Mandelson had failed his vetting.
In a statement to the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said Lord Mandelson was a “direct ministerial appointment” and that it was usual in such cases for a vetting to take place at a later date. No 10 has now called for the process to be changed going forward.
The Prime Minister told MPs it was “surprising” he was not told Lord Mandelson had failed the review. In his statement he said No 10 and Parliament should have had this information “long, long ago”.
He told MPs: “Last Tuesday evening, I learned for the first time that on 29 January 2025, before Peter Mandelson took up his post as ambassador, Foreign Office officials granted him enhanced review clearance, despite the specific recommendation of the UK Security Review that enhanced review clearance be refused.
“Not only that, but the Foreign Office officials who made this decision did not pass this information on to me, the Foreign Secretary, his predecessor as Deputy Prime Minister, any other minister, or even former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald.
“I found this surprising and so last Tuesday I immediately instructed officials in Downing Street and the Cabinet Office to establish the facts within my authority as a matter of urgency.
“I wanted to know who knew the decision, on what basis, and Mr Speaker, I wanted that information for the precise and express purpose of updating this House, because it is information that I should have had a long time ago, and it is information that the House should have had a long time ago.
“This is information that I and the House have a right to know.”
