Sir Keir Starmerwill face a vote on whether he will be subject to an inquiry into whether he misled parliament over thePeter Mandelson vetting saga,The Independentunderstands.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoylelooks set to give MPs a say on whether the prime minister is referred to the powerful Commons Privileges Committee for a probe over the disgraced peer’s appointment as US ambassador.
The inquiry will examine whether or not he misled MPs when he claimed “due process” was followed in the appointment of Lord Mandelson, and that there was “no pressure whatsoever”.
As first revealed byThe Independent, MPs from both sides of the House, includingLabour,are understood to have written to the speaker requesting that the committee, which deals with serious disciplinary issues in parliament, investigates the PM.
Sir Lindsay is expected to make a statement on Monday, meaning Sir Keir is likely to face a vote in the Commons on Tuesday – the same day his former chief of staff,Morgan McSweeney, will be grilled by MPson his role in Lord Mandelson’s appointment.
The prime minister has repeatedly told MPs that he and his ministers only found out thatUK Security Vetting had advised Lord Mandelson should be denied clearance for the rolelast Tuesday evening, despiteThe Independentraising concerns that he had failed vetting last September and running a front page story on it –prompting claims of a cover-up.
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.
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They said: “I think being slipped for campaigning is going to be a large excuse.”
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 toldThe 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."
This is a breaking news story. More to follow...
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