Arabic version: قادة حزب العمال يرفضون التحقيق في عملية فحص ستارمر

Senior Labour figures have criticised calls for a parliamentary investigation into whether the prime minister was honest with MPs about the vetting process for Lord Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s ambassador to the US. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer had misled Parliament “multiple times” on the subject and urged Labour MPs to “look into their consciences” and back a new inquiry by the Privileges Committee.

According to BBC News, Labour MP Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee which is looking into the appointment, told the BBC there was no “rush” to set up a new inquiry and suggested some MPs were “trying to score points ahead of the local elections”.

Separately, ex-Labour ministers Lord Blunkett and Alan Johnson have said an inquiry would be a “waste of money”. The Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle would need to allow a debate on the matter and it would be up to MPs to vote on whether to launch an investigation. If he does allow a vote, this could take place as soon as Tuesday. The government holds a majority in the House of Commons, so a large number of Labour MPs would have to vote for an inquiry or abstain in order for one to be launched.

Starmer has faced ongoing scrutiny regarding the vetting process, particularly after he apologised for the appointment of Lord Mandelson, who was sacked seven months after starting the Washington DC job over his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Badenoch emphasized that there are “still a lot of information that doesn’t add up” regarding Starmer’s statements about the appointment process, while Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds defended the prime minister, asserting that due process was indeed followed, albeit fundamentally flawed.