Prime Minister Keir Starmer has avoided a parliamentary ethics inquiry after ordering Labour MPs to vote down an attempt to refer him to the privileges committee over claims he may have misled Parliament in the Mandelson affair.
MPs rejected the motion by 335 votes to 223, ensuring the committee, responsible for investigating whether MPs have misled the House, will not examine the allegations.
The result was secured after the government imposed a three-line whip, the strongest form of party instruction in Westminster. A three-line whip requires MPs to vote with their party and signals that defiance could lead to serious consequences, including suspension or removal from the parliamentary party.
Fifteen Labour MPs who voted against the government now face possible suspension, underlining the extent of party discipline applied in the vote. A further 53 Labour MPs abstained, with some understood to have done so in protest.
Critics have pointed to the contrast with Boris Johnson, who did not attempt to block the privileges committee from investigating him over Partygate and said he welcomed the inquiry because he believed he had not misled Parliament.
Sir Keir’s critics argue that, with a large Commons majority, the government was able to use its numbers to shut down scrutiny. Supporters of an inquiry say the use of a three-line whip in this context raises questions about whether MPs were given a free vote on a matter relating to parliamentary standards.
Earlier on Tuesday, Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff, told MPs he feared Peter Mandelson’s appointment to a US-related role “would go wrong”. Philip Barton, former head of the Foreign Office, said Downing Street had pressed officials to “get on with” securing developed vetting.
Emma Lewell, the Labour MP for South Shields who supported the motion, said the government’s handling of the vote showed it was “out of touch and disconnected from the public”.
Downing Street dismissed the motion as a “desperate political stunt” by the Conservatives ahead of local elections.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said:
“To save his own skin, Keir Starmer threatened his MPs with the loss of their jobs unless they helped cover up his misleading statements to Parliament.”
The Liberal Democrats said the decision to whip Labour MPs meant the Prime Minister had “ducked the scrutiny he should have faced,” adding to criticism over the government’s handling of the issue.
