Keir Starmer Faces Mandelson Sleaze Probe Vote

Keir Starmer is to face a crunch vote on whether a sleaze probe should be launched into claims he misled parliament over the Peter Mandelson scandal.

In a major blow for the prime minister, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said MPs should decide whether or not the Privileges Committee holds an investigation into the prime minister.

Starmer has previously insisted that “due process” was followed in the appointment of Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.

He also insisted last week that “no pressure whatsoever” was placed on the Foreign Office to make sure the shamed former Labour peer had the necessary security clearance to take up the post.

But it emerged two weeks ago that UK Security Vetting had recommended that Mandelson not be given clearance.

Sir Olly Robbins – the former top civil servant in the Foreign Office who was sacked by Starmer for not telling him about the UKSV verdict – told MPs last week that there was “constant pressure” from No.10 to get Mandelson in place.

Hoyle confirmed that the House of Commons will be given a vote on Tuesday on whether the Privileges Committee should carry out its own inquiry into the row.

It is understood Labour MPs will be whipped to vote against an inquiry, with party chiefs insisting it is a political stunt ahead of the May 7 elections.

But critics have accused Starmer of running scared of his own MPs by refusing to give them a free vote as he fears many of them will vote against him.

A Labour insider told HuffPost UK: “It shouldn’t be a problem but the PMs political and moral authority slipping away – MPs won’t want to go into bat on something that the think will blow back in their faces.”

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