Keir Starmer to face vote which could spark probe into whether he misled MPs over Mandelson
Keir Starmer to face vote which could spark probe into whether he misled MPs over Mandelson
Millie Cooke and David MaddoxMon, April 27, 2026 at 1:45 PM UTC
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Sir Keir Starmer will face a Commons vote on Tuesday which could trigger an inquiry into whether he misled parliament over the Peter Mandelson vetting saga, Sir Lindsay Hoyle has confirmed.
The Commons speaker told MPs on Monday that they would be allowed to debate whether or not the prime minister should be referred to the powerful Commons Privileges Committee for a probe over the disgraced peer’s appointment as US ambassador.
The inquiry would examine whether or not he misled MPs when Sir Keir claimed “due process” was followed in the appointment of Lord Mandelson, and that there was “no pressure whatsoever”.
It comes after it emerged that the Foreign Office decided to appoint Lord Mandelson despite the fact he failed the vetting process.
Sir Keir Starmer could be referred to the Privileges Committee (Reuters)
As first revealed by The Independent, MPs from both sides of the House, including Labour, are understood to have written to the speaker requesting that the committee, which deals with serious disciplinary issues in parliament, investigates the PM.
Sir Keir will face the vote on Tuesday – the same day his former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, will be grilled by MPs on his role in Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
The prime minister has repeatedly told MPs that he and his ministers only found out that UK Security Vetting had advised Lord Mandelson should be denied clearance for the role last Tuesday evening, despite The Independent raising concerns that he had failed vetting last September and running a front page story on it – prompting claims of a cover-up.
Labour’s huge majority in the Commons means such a vote would almost certainly not pass, but it could still be damaging for the prime minister.
A number of MPs and former parliamentarians have referred to the precedent set during the Partygate investigation into Boris Johnson, when the Tories failed to use their majority to oppose the inquiry, and their MPs on the committee “put party second” in finding him guilty.
But concerns are growing among Labour MPs across different factions of the party that the government plans to whip to block the vote.
One MP on the right of the party noted that their colleagues were asking to be out of parliament so they cannot be accused of taking part in a cover up.
They said: “I think being slipped for campaigning is going to be a large excuse.”
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Another on the left of the party questioned why Sir Keir wants to avoid an investigation if he is as innocent as he claims.
They said: “A question many MPs are asking is if the PM is clear he has done nothing wrong, and confident in that, why doesn’t he just refer himself for a clean bill of health from the committee and save MPs and Council candidates the drama and controversy of a debate and vote tomorrow?”
But the rebellion is unlikely to be a major one in the voting lobbies with an expectation Labour MPs are more likely to voice disquiet in the debate.
One Labour MP told The Independent: “I understand that it will be a whipped vote so government is likely to succeed. I therefore think the points that need to be made, will be made in the debate.”
However, Tories are going to push the fact that they did not oppose the motion when Boris Johnson was referred to the committee for misleading parliament.
One former Cabinet minister said: “We did set something of a precedent but I think we have some moral authority on the issue because of the way we allowed the inquiry to take place into Boris. This is a question of putting integrity before party.”
Sir Ed Davey also piled pressure on Sir Keir not to whip his MPs to oppose his referral to the Privileges Committee, saying: “Even Boris Johnson didn’t block his MPs voting for scrutiny.
“MPs must be given a free vote on any motion to refer Starmer, not forced into being accomplices to a cover-up."
Over the weekend, Cabinet minister Darren Jones insisted there is “no case to answer” when asked about a potential referral of Sir Keir to a sleaze inquiry, as well as accusing the Conservatives of “using tactics” ahead of local elections.
The minister told the BBC’s Sunday Morning with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “You have to remember, what are these privileges committees about? The last time it was used was when Boris Johnson told the House of Commons there were no parties in Downing Street.
“It was then shown he was at five of them and got a fine from the police. That’s what these processes are in place for, so the opposition are just using tactics to try to distract from the fact that the government is doing good work in this pre-election period.”
Asked if it would be right to have the investigation and clear up different interpretations of what has happened, Mr Jones added: “As far as I understand the case, there is no case to answer.”
Source: “AOL Breaking”
