Usual proceedings at Sky News were abruptly interrupted as anchor Jayne Secker delivered a breaking bulletin to viewers – and it’s bad news all round for Labour prime minister Keir Starmer. It has been announced that Starmer will face a Commons vote tomorrow (April 28) which could trigger an inquiry into claims he misled MPs over the Peter Mandelson scandal.
Secker said on the programme: “We’re just breaking away from that to bring you another story – now this is about Keir Starmer and his future. MPs are to vote tomorrow afternoon on whether to refer Sir Keir Starmer to a privileges committee investigation. Now this is around Lord Mandelson.
“The Conservatives have been pushing hard for this – they say that when Keir Starmer spoke to the House of Commons and said that normal procedures were followed and that there was no pressure put on the Foreign Office about Peter Mandelson’s vetting…
“The Conservatives have said that the evidence that was given by Sir Olly Robbins, the chief civil servant for the Foreign Office last week to their committee said that there had been pressure put on the Foreign Office. Daily phone calls from No 10, we understand, were made.
“They’ve been pushing to see whether or not this proves Keir Starmer has broken Parliamentary privilege.”
Secker then announced: “Let’s bring in our chief political correspondent Jon Craig. So just explain to us what’s going to happen tomorrow – this has just been announced in the Commons?”
Craig explained: “No, not yet. The Speaker will announce it just after 2:30, then quite often the Speaker makes a statement at the start of Commons business, we’re expected to hear that today.
“We’ll learn, for example, how long the debate will be tomorrow and what part of the day it will take place – likely to be in the afternoon. The earliest it could start would be 12:30.”
