Labour MPs were whipped to vote down a motion referring Starmer to the sleaze committee – but Farage didn’t vote either. Was he right? Express readers decide.
Farage was absent from the Commons for the vote. (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer faced a vote in the House of Commons last night as to whether or not he should be referred to a committee of MPs on allegations that he misled Parliament. The same committee, dubbed the ‘sleaze committee’, found former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to have done so over Partygate and is widely believed to have then seen him out of office.
The move followed demands from opponents of the Prime Minister to see him face the music after he repeatedly claimed “due process was followed” in the appointment of the disgraced peer Lord Mandelson as US Ambassador. A subsequent ongoing scandal about the vetting process and how much of it the Prime Minister knew has embroiled Sir Keir’s Government in allegations of sleaze.
The vote would fail after No 10 reportedly whipped rebellious Labour MPs to vote against the motion – something critics slammed, as whipping such motions is unusual. Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf threatened to “carpet bomb” the constituencies of Labour MPs who voted against the motion with negative campaign material in a post on social media.
However, his party leader, Nigel Farage, was not present in the House of Commons and did not vote.
Following the vote, Kemi Badenoch issued a furious response saying that Sir Keir had “threatened his MPs with the loss of their jobs unless they helped cover up his misleading statements to Parliament”. She branded the move a “disgrace” and accused 333 Labour MPs of being “complicit in that cover-up.”
Mrs Badenoch added: “It is very notable that the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister would not repeat his boss’s claim that there was no pressure whatsoever from No. 10 on the appointment of Peter Mandelson. Instead trying to clarify what he had meant.
“This is a Government coming apart at the seams. They are more interested in their own survival than in the cost-of-living crisis affecting hardworking families.
“Labour MPs will rue the day that they voted against this motion, because it is the day that people saw they believe there’s one rule for Labour and another for everyone else.”
333 Labour MPs voted against referring Starmer to the committee (Image: Getty)
Number 10 accused the Conservatives of a “political stunt” with the vote. But the Liberal Democrats said that Sir Keir had been “cowardly”. Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “Starmer has ducked the scrutiny he should have faced by forcing Labour MPs to defend him. What a cowardly way to govern.
“If he truly felt his conduct over the Mandelson scandal was up to scratch, he should have undergone investigation by the Privileges Committee. The Liberal Democrats will always stand up for decency and honesty in politics – unlike this Prime Minister.”