Moment of peril for UK PM Starmer as Parliament granted vote over ethics inquiry

London, Apr 27 (PTI) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces a serious moment of leadership peril after MPs were granted a vote in the House of Commons on Monday over whether he must face a parliamentary ethics inquiry into his conduct.
     Starmer has been struggling to move on from the controversy surrounding his appointment of disgraced Lord Peter Mandelson to the post of US ambassador, despite known links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
     Now, MPs are expected to vote on Tuesday if the Privileges Committee should open an investigation into whether he misled Parliament when he claimed that “full due process” was followed in vetting the peer for the post last year.
     “In this case, having taken advice, I have decided to allow the House to come to a view on whether the Committee of Privileges should look at the matter," Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told members of Parliament.
     This followed mounting pressure from the Opposition Conservative Party for such an investigation into Starmer’s conduct. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the “facts are overwhelming” as she accused the UK PM of misleading the Commons “repeatedly” over the process that was followed ahead of Mandelson's US deployment.
     However, 10 Downing Street retaliated to condemn the “political stunt” by the Opposition just days before local elections are scheduled across the country on May 7.
     “The government is engaging with the two parliamentary processes that are already running on Peter Mandelson's appointment with full transparency," a spokesperson said.
     "This is a desperate political stunt by the Conservative Party the week before the May elections because they have no answers on the cost of living or the NHS. Their claims have no substance," the spokesperson said.
     As the Labour government holds a majority in the House of Commons, a large number of Starmer’s own MPs would have to either vote in favour of an inquiry or abstain for the Opposition motion to proceed. The way they vote will also indicate the scale of division within the governing party and appetite for a change of leadership.
     The UK Parliament's Privileges Committee has the authority to investigate breaches of the ministerial code, which requires ministers who knowingly mislead the House to resign and those guilty of an inadvertent error expected to correct the parliamentary record at the earliest.
     In 2023, it was the committee’s ruling that then prime minister Boris Johnson had misled MPs about lockdown rule-breaking parties in Downing Street during COVID that eventually led to him being forced to step down as Tory leader.
     The saga surrounding the appointment of Mandelson, who was eventually sacked seven months into his ambassadorial role in Washington DC, has cast a long shadow over Starmer’s judgment. While he has apologised to the victims of Epstein for making the appointment and also lost some of his top aides to the controversy, the issue has continued to plague the government.
     Tuesday's Commons vote is also expected to coincide with testimony before Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee by senior former government figures.
     The UK PM’s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who resigned earlier this year claiming responsibility for Mandelson's appointment, and former senior civil servant at the Foreign Office Sir Philip Barton will give their version of the events that led to the controversial peer's elevation to the key diplomatic post.
     Mandelson has repeatedly stated he regrets his friendship with the late American sex offender.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)