Starmer latest: PM could bring Rayner back into Cabinet to avoid Labour leadership challenge – UK Times

Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions will be the last before Parliament is suspended, or “prorogued”, ahead of the start of a new session on May 13.

The weekly grilling is likely to see Sir Keir face further questions from the Conservatives about Lord Peter Mandelson, following a day when Labour MPs were whipped to oppose a Tory motion calling for the prime minister to be investigated over his insistence that due process was followed in the peer’s appointment as ambassador to the US.

The motion from Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch would have seen Sir Keir referred to the Commons Privileges Committee in an echo of the process that eventually ended Boris Johnson’s political career.

Mrs Badenoch has accused the Prime Minister of misleading the Commons when he claimed due process was followed and no pressure was exerted to grant Lord Mandelson security clearance against official advice.

But despite a rebellion by 15 backbenchers, Labour MPs voted decisively against launching an investigation by a majority of 112 – slightly less than the Government’s working majority of 165.

Following the vote, Mrs Badenoch accused Labour MPs of being complicit in a “cover-up”, saying they would “rue the day” they voted against an inquiry.

Housing secretary Steve Reed has dismissed suggestions that Labour colleagues will be accused of a cover-up over the Lord Mandelson vetting row, after defeating a bid to launch an inquiry into claims the prime minister misled Parliament over the scandal.

Asked whether he was bothered by a claim from the back benches that the party would face smears about a “cover-up” if MPs were whipped to reject a call for a parliamentary investigation into Sir Keir Starmer’s remarks to Parliament, Mr Reed told Times Radio: “No, because there’s more scrutiny on this issue than almost any issue I can think of.”

Asked whether the 15 Labour MPs who voted in favour of the Commons motion on Tuesday would lose the whip, he said: “There was a handful of usual suspects who did what they tend to do. I’m not in charge of discipline, I’m not too bothered about them to be honest.”

Labour backbenchers who “don’t play the team game with the rest of us” are “not going to distract” the government, the housing secretary has insisted, refusing to say whether MPs who rebelled in Tuesday’s Commons vote would lose the whip, or whether he would support that move.

Steve Reed told Sky News: “You’ve got a handful of usual suspects that will repeatedly vote against the Government. They’re not going to distract us.

“You know, we’ve got the renters’ rights reforms coming in this Friday, which gives renters, people who rent their home, the biggest increase in protections and rights that we’ve had for a generation.

“That is what voters want us to focus on, not a handful of people that go off and don’t play the team game with the rest of us.

Ninety-nine percent of us are united with the Prime Minister so that we can focus on the issues that matter.”

Sir Keir Starmer has reportedly offered Rayner a spot back in the Cabinet as part of a planned reshuffle following what is expected to be a disastrous set of results at the local elections.

What might previously have been seen as a gamble (the former deputy PM was, for a while, seen as somewhat of a liability as a result of her chequered tax affairs) is now a last ditch attempt to save himself at a time of maximum peril for the beleaguered prime minister.

Rayner is widely perceived to be one of the main options to replace Starmer, alongside Wes Streeting (and maybe even Ed Miliband). She is deeply respected within Labour, especially among the left wing MPs who are such a thorn in Starmer’s side. If the PM could persuade his former deputy to return to Cabinet, not only could it shore up his position with the left, it would also signal a vote of confidence and loyalty to Starmer’s ailing government from Rayner.

But it will be hard to persuade her to return to what is widely seen to be a sinking ship. And even if he does manage it, the ship may continue to sink anyway.

There were 15 Labour MPs who went against the three-line whip and voted to subject the PM to an investigation by the Privileges Committee.

Emma Lewell, MP for South Shields, was among the MPs to disobey orders to reject the motion to refer Sir Keir to the Privileges Committee.

She was joined in the aye lobby by her party colleagues Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East), Cat Smith (Lancaster and Wyre), Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland), Grahame Morris (Easington), and Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham).

However, Ms Smith also voted against the motion, which could indicate a formal abstention.

Apsana Begum (Poplar and Limehouse), Richard Burgon (Leeds East), Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby), Imran Hussain (Bradford East), Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth), Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford), Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornby East), John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington), and Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) voted in support of the motion.

Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East), who recently lost the Labour whip, also voted in favour of the motion.

Overall MPs voted 335-223 against the motion, meaning the government won by a majority of 112.

Labour MPs will “rue the day” they voted against referring Sir Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee, Kemi Badenoch has said.

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. It is a disgrace that 333 Labour MPs chose to be complicit in that cover up.

“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.

“This is a government coming apart at the seams. They are more interested in their own survival than 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.”

Downing Street accused the Conservatives of resorting to a “desperate political stunt” after MPs rejected a bid to launch an inquiry into whether Sir Keir Starmer misled the Commons over the appointment of Lord Peter Mandelson.

A Number 10 spokesperson said: “This Labour Government is delivering for Britain including bringing down energy bills, cutting hospital waiting lists and lifting half a million children out of poverty.

“The Conservative Party resorted to this desperate political stunt the week before the May elections because they have no answers on the cost of living or the NHS.

“We will continue to engage with the two parliamentary processes that are running on Peter Mandelson’s appointment with full transparency.”