• [Daily Mirror Icon]
• News
• Politics
• Politics

Keir Starmer faces MPs vote on sleaze inquiry into Mandelson vetting row

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle will allow a debate on Tuesday on whether to refer Keir Starmer to the powerful Privileges Committee, which investigated Boris Johnsons Partygate lies

[Keir Starmer faces a vote on whether he should be referred to a Commons sleaze inquiry]

View 3 Images

Keir Starmer faces an MPs vote on whether he should be referred to a Commons sleaze inquiry(Image: Getty Images)

Keir Starmer faces a Commons showdown over whether he should be referred to a parliamentary sleaze inquiry over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle granted MPs a vote on Tuesday on whether to refer the Prime Minister to the powerful Privileges Committee, which investigated Boris Johnson's Partygate lies. While the vote is very unlikely to pass due to Labours large majority, it will be a moment of peril for Mr Starmer as speculation swirls about his future.

The debate will come on a day of high drama, as MPs were already set to grill ex-No10 chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and former Foreign Office boss Sir Philip Barton on Lord Mandelsons vetting.

The PM branded the vote a "stunt" tonight as he signalled Labour MPs could be ordered to oppose the bid to refer him to a sleaze inquiry. Speaking to The Cathy Newman Show on Sky News, he said: "It is a stunt. We've got huge amounts of transparency going on already. And, frankly, as Prime Minister and as a government, it is really important I focus on what matters to millions of people across the country."

The Prime Minister also revealed that his wife Victoria was urging him to carry on. Asked if he would listen if she said enough was enough, he said: "I always listen to Vic. And, I think she was the one in the first place that basically said, why on earth would you want to go into politics? But she has an absolute.. She's an absolute rock. and I confide in her all the time, and hers is the best advice. And, I'm just thankful that I've got her every day."

[Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is expected to grant MPs a debate on the issue]

View 3 Images

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is expected to grant MPs a debate on the issue(Image: PA)

Pressed if she was advising him to keep going, he said: "She is, yes. And we talk everything through, and it's fantastic. We've got also two fantastic kids, a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old...they are my pride and joy every single day."

Downing Street mounted a rear-guard action to shore up the PM's position, publishing a letter from ex-civil service boss Sir Chris Wormald to Mr Starmer after he sacked Lord Mandelson over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. It said: "The evidence I have reviewed leads me to conclude that appropriate processes were followed in both the appointment and withdrawal of the former HMA Washington."

A No10 spokesman branded the move a "desperate political stunt" by the Tories. The spokesman said: The Government is engaging with the two parliamentary processes that are already running on Peter Mandelsons appointment with full transparency. This is a desperate political stunt by the Conservative Party the week before the May elections because they have no answers on the cost of living or the NHS. Their claims have no substance.

On Monday evening the Prime Minister also rallied MPs at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) ahead of the make-or-break vote. Mr Starmer told his backbenchers: I have responsibility for being totally transparent with you, with Parliament and the British public. I take that very seriously as well. But this is not about a lack of transparency.

"This is a political stunt by our opponents who want to bring us down, obscure our message, stop us getting on with our work. And the timing tells you everything nine days before local elections. He added: Tomorrow is pure politics and we need to stand together against it.

Its important to see the bigger picture here. They want to stop this Labour Government. And we know why. Because we are the first government for generations to take key parts of the public realm back into public ownership. They dont like that, but were doing it. The first government for generations to give rights and power to workers, to renters, to the less fortunate. The first government for generations prepared to stand against wealth interests, to raise money and put that into public services and fighting child poverty. They dont like it, they said theyd reverse it. We have a mandate to do all of those things. And they are not going to stop us.

Labour grandees were also rallied to his cause as party whips and ministers rang around MPs to urge them to back the PM.

Former PM Gordon Brown said in a statement: "At challenging times both for our country and the world, the Labour Party, has always sought to put the needs of the country first and with conflicts raging around the world with profound consequences for our country, this is the time to do so. Whatever the parliamentary games at Westminster, what the country expects of everyone in Labour is to focus on the priorities of the British people, which is what Keir Starmer is doing and for which he deserves all our support.

[Keir Starmer's ill-fated decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador has come back to haunt him]

View 3 Images

Keir Starmer's ill-fated decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador has come back to haunt him(Image: Carl Court/PA Wire)

Former Cabinet Ministers Alan Johnson and David Blunkett branded the move a nakedly political stunt ahead of next weeks local elections. They said: Any comparison with Boris Johnson is absurd. When Parliament referred that matter to the privileges committee, a police investigation had directly disproved his categoric statements that he knew nothing about the breach of lockdown rules.

Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry, who is leading an inquiry into Mandelsons vetting, also said: I dont really see why were doing it at the moment, apart from, potentially people trying to score points in advance of the local elections.

The row centres on accusations by opposition parties that the PM misled Parliament when he said due process had been followed in Lord Mandelson's ill-fated appointment as US ambassador. Mr Starmer has insisted he wasn't told by officials that concerns were raised about granting the peer high-level security clearance before he was sent to Washington.

The PM sacked Foreign Office chief Sir Olly Robbins after the news emerged that UK Security Vetting had told officials it was minded to withhold top-level vetting from Lord Mandelson. In explosive evidence last week, Sir Olly accused Downing Street of taking a "dismissive" approach to vetting and piling pressure on the Foreign Office to approve the appointment.

But the top mandarin made it clear he did not tell the PM about the issues with Lord Mandelson's vetting, which the PM believes exonerates him from claims he lied to MPs.

The prospect of a Privileges Committee probe has deeply uncomfortable echoes of Mr Johnson's lies over Partygate, which Mr Starmer pursued relentlessly in opposition. The Privileges Committee found the former PM had lied to Parliament when he said no rules had been broken in Downing Street.

It handed Mr Johnson a 90-day suspension from the Commons but he quit as an MP rather than serve the punishment.

[Daily Mirror Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.