Starmer's day of reckoning: PM pleads with backbenchers to vote against 'baseless' sleaze probe

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The Commons will vote on Tuesday on whether the Privileges Committee should consider if the Prime Minister misled the House by claiming “due process” was followed in appointing the former Labour grandee as US ambassador despite failing his security vetting.

A large-scale effort appeared under way by Monday evening to rally support from the back benches, with former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown also urging the party to back Starmer.

Labour MPs are being whipped to reject the motion to refer the Prime Minister to the committee after Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle allowed a vote on the issue following requests from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and other senior MPs, it is understood. 

At a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party on Monday evening, the Prime Minister sought to dismiss the attempt to launch an inquiry as a “stunt” by political opponents trying to inflict damage before the May elections.

“I have responsibility for being totally transparent with you, with Parliament and the British public,” he told Labour parliamentarians.

“I take that very seriously as well. But this is not about a lack of transparency.

Read more: David Lammy slams Starmer sleaze probe vote as 'political stunt' by Tories ahead of local elections

Read more: Starmer 'could face sleaze probe' over Mandelson vetting row as Cabinet turns on Prime Minister

“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 claimed the Tories had lodged “totally baseless” and “absolutely ridiculous” accusations against him and insisted the motion on Tuesday was “pure politics”, adding: “We need to stand together against it.”

Starmer added: “When we stick together and fight together we are so much stronger.”

Backing the PM, David Lammy told LBC it is “crystal clear” his boss did not mislead parliament as he took aim at the Tories for “muddying the waters” ahead of polling day on May 7.

“This is a political stunt by the Conservatives to keep this thing running. And why do they want to keep it running?  They want to keep it running because we've got local elections,” he told LBC’s Ben Kentish.

Also backing Starmer, former PM Gordon Brown urged Labour to unite in focusing on putting “the needs of the country first” in a statement on Monday evening.

“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,” he said.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is reportedly the leading voice pushing for Parliament's Privileges Committee to probe Sir Keir's statements to the House.

This committe was responsible for Boris Johnson’s exit from frontline politics after it investigated him for misleading the House over the “partygate” breaches of Covid-19 laws in Downing Street.

Mrs Badenoch has argued the PM had misled Parliament "multiple times" amid the Mandelson vetting scandal and should be probed by the same committee as she urged Labour MPs to "look into their consciences".

But because of their large majority in the Commons, it would take a large number of Labour MPs to go against the party line for inquiry to be launched. 

Last week, Sir Olly Robbins, who was the senior civil servant in the Foreign Office until he was sacked by the PM, told the Foreign Affairs Committee that there was "constant pressure" to approve Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador.

But he added that this did not affect his decision to give Lord Mandelson security clearance to take up the role.

Responding to Sir Olly's accusations, Sir Keir told the Sunday Times there were "different types of pressure".

"There's pressure – 'Can we get this done quickly?' – which is not an unusual pressure. That is the everyday pressure of government," he said.

If the vote does take place tomorrow, it will coincide with several senior former government figures giving evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee, including the Prime Minister's former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and former senior civil servant at the Foreign Office Sir Philip Barton.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "Labour MPs must be given a free vote on any motion to refer Starmer to the Privileges Committee, not forced into being accomplices to a cover-up.

"If Keir Starmer has misled the House and the public, he must be held to the same standard that we should expect of any prime minister."Reform UK's economic spokesman Robert Jenrick said the prime minister had "misled Parliament" and had "behaved appallingly".

However, he added: "Parliament needs to actually talk about the priorities of the British people, and that is not primarily about the ins and outs of Peter Mandelson."

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The government is engaging with the two parliamentary processes that are already running on Peter Mandelson's 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."