Will Starmer face a sleaze inquiry over Lord Mandelson vetting claims? | Politics News

Sir Keir Starmer is facing calls for a sleaze inquiry over his claims about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

Opposition parties have said the prime minister should be referred to the powerful privileges committee over whether he misled parliament in his statements about what he knew about the vetting of Lord Mandelson.

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Boris Johnson was investigated by the committee over claims he misled parliament about what he knew about the COVID “partygate” allegations, and after they found he had, he resigned.

We look into whether Sir Keir could face an investigation and how that could take place:

What does the privileges committee do?

The committee, made up of seven cross-party MPs, conducts inquiries into whether an MP has breached parliamentary privilege.

A contempt of privilege is any act, or failure to act, that “may prevent or hinder the work of either House of Parliament”.

An MP misleads the House by either deliberately providing false information or failing to correct the record after inadvertently giving inaccurate information to parliament.

How can an MP be referred to the privileges committee?

Any MP can refer another MP to the committee by writing a letter to the Speaker complaining about a breach of privilege or a contempt. The letter must not be made public.

The Speaker, currently Sir Lindsay Hoyle, will say whether the matter will be treated as a matter of privilege, and this will be announced to the Commons, along with a time for when it will be considered.

It will have priority over any other business scheduled for debate at that time.

The complainant MP can then table a motion, which will see MPs vote to refer the matter to the committee, which will then launch an investigation.

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What happens during an investigation?

The committee will request written evidence from relevant parties, which can include documents, emails and reports.

Witnesses will also be called to give oral evidence before the committee analyses the evidence to see if any misleading statements were reckless or intentional rather than accidental.

A report outlining its findings and recommending sanctions, such as suspension or reprimand, will then be published.

The House of Commons then holds a vote to decide whether to accept the report’s findings and if the proposed sanctions should be implemented.

Mr Johnson resigned after receiving a draft report, before it could go to a vote, as the report found he had deliberately misled the Commons and the committee, and was complicit in a campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee.

Where are we in the process for Sir Keir, and what is he accused of?

The Conservatives, Lib Dems, the SNP and at least one former Labour MP, Karl Turner, have complained about Sir Keir’s comments to the House over his knowledge of the vetting of Lord Mandelson.

Their complaints are based around Sir Keir telling Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday that “no pressure existed whatsoever” for the Foreign Office to approve the security vetting of Lord Mandelson.

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Sir Olly Robbins, who was sacked over his decision not to tell Sir Keir the former Labour peer had failed security checks ahead of his appointment as ambassador to Washington in December 2024, told MPs the day before that “constant pressure” was applied.

The opposition parties have said they believe Sir Olly’s statement is a direct contradiction of what the PM said, and they believe it shows he has misled parliament.

They are also questioning Sir Keir’s repeated insistence that “due process” was followed after it emerged that then-Cabinet Secretary Simon Case advised security vetting should be carried out before a political appointee was given the job.

This was not done, with royal assent and access to classified material granted to Lord Mandelson before vetting was carried out.

Number 10, and other ministers, have denied Sir Keir lied to parliament, with Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds telling Sky News the Tories were playing “silly political games”.

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What happens next?

The Speaker holds all the power at the moment and will have to decide if referral to the privileges committee should be debated in the Commons.

He could decide this later on Monday.

If it comes to a vote, then Labour MPs may be whipped to vote against the motion, and it would go no further.

In Mr Johnson’s case, he allowed his MPs a free vote due to anger on the backbenches. Sir Keir led the opposition charge in getting him referred.

If MPs do vote for the matter to go to the privileges committee, then Sir Keir will face an investigation into whether his comments were knowingly misleading or if he failed to correct the record for inadvertently giving inaccurate information.