Keir Starmer faces a day of peril as a former Foreign Office chief and his ex-chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney give evidence to MPs. Once a dangerous morning is out of the way, the Prime Minister faces a Commons showdown over whether he should be referred to a parliamentary sleaze inquiry. The Peter Mandelson scandal continues to haunt Mr Starmer, after it emerged vetting officials had recommended against giving the so-called Prince of Darkness clearance before he went to Washington.
Morning Evidence Sessions
This morning, Sir Philip Barton, who was the top civil servant at the Foreign Office until the start of last year, will give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee. He faces questions about how much pressure was exerted by No10 to push Mandelson's appointment as ambassador to the US through. Last week his successor Sir Olly Robbins, who was sacked for not telling the PM about the vetting fiasco, said some in Government saw no need to vet Mandelson at all. Following that, Mr McSweeney will be questioned at around 11am. He stood down as Mr Starmer's top aide over his role in the scandal.
Commons Vote on Privileges Committee
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has granted MPs a vote on Tuesday on whether to refer the PM to the powerful Privileges Committee, which investigated Boris Johnson's Partygate lies. While the vote is very unlikely to pass due to Labour’s large majority, it will be a moment of peril for Mr Starmer as speculation swirls about his future.
Starmer Pleads for Unity
Keir Starmer is facing a critical day as MPs vote on whether there should be a parliamentary sleaze inquiry into the Mandelson vetting row. The PM last night urged Labour backbenchers to "stand together" against the motion to refer him to the Privileges Committee. He accused the Tories of a "stunt" over claims he misled the Commons about the former US ambassador's appointment. The crunch vote is expected this afternoon following evidence from senior figures including former top Foreign Office mandarin Sir Philip Barton. Sir Philip faces questions about the level of pressure exerted by No10 following explosive evidence by his successor Sir Olly Robbins last week.
A large-scale effort to shore up backbench support was under way on Monday night, with former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown also urging the party to back Mr Starmer. The PM told a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP): "When we stick together and fight together we are so much stronger." He sought to dismiss the Commons bid to refer him to the committee which ended Boris Johnson's political career as a "stunt" by political opponents intent on inflicting damage before the May elections.
Mr Starmer told the PLP: "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 said the Conservatives had put forward "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."
