Sir Keir Starmer has urged Labour MPs to reject a bid for a parliamentary inquiry into the Lord Mandelson as he faces another moment of peril for the future of his premiership.
The Commons will vote on Tuesday, April 28, on whether the Privileges Committee should consider if the Prime Minister misled the House over the way the former Labour grandee’s appointment as US ambassador was handled, The Independent reported.
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 Sir Keir.
As per reports Labour MPs are forced to reject the motion to refer Sir Keir 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.
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.
He told Labour parliamentarians, “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 added.
He claimed the Conservatives had put forward “totally baseless” and “absolutely ridiculous” accusations against him and insisted the motion on Tuesday was “pure politics.”
For the unversed, the prime minister is accused of misleading parliament by claiming that “due process” was followed in the shamed former Labour peer’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to Washington.
