Lindsay Hoyle confirms Starmer vote

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has allowed MPs to vote on Tuesday, April 28, on whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer should be referred to the Privileges Committee over the Peter Mandelson vetting row. (news.sky.com) Hoyle told the House on Monday that, after taking advice, he would let MPs decide whether the committee should examine Starmer’s statements to Parliament. He said he had received “numerous” letters and that it was for the House, not the Speaker, to come to a view. (news.sky.com) The motion concerns Starmer’s answers about Mandelson’s appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington, including his statements that “due process” was followed and that “no pressure whatsoever” was applied to get him into post. (ukfactcheck.com) The immediate trigger was evidence from former Foreign Office permanent secretary Sir Olly Robbins, who told MPs there had been “constant pressure” and “very frequent” contact from No. 10 during January 2025. Robbins also said refusing clearance would have been “very difficult indeed.” (ukfactcheck.com) Starmer has denied misleading MPs and said the key fact was withheld from him: that United Kingdom Security Vetting recommended Mandelson should be denied developed vetting clearance before Foreign Office officials granted it anyway. (gov.uk) (ukfactcheck.com) In a Commons statement on April 20, Starmer said he learned only on April 14, 2026, that UK Security Vetting had recommended on January 29, 2025, that Mandelson should not receive developed vetting clearance. He said the clearance was granted the next day without ministers being told. (gov.uk) Tuesday’s vote lands alongside a new Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Mandelson’s vetting. Parliament scheduled former Foreign Office chief Sir Philip Barton for 9 a.m. and former Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney for 11 a.m. (committees.parliament.uk) Sky News reported the Commons debate was expected to begin no earlier than 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. A referral would not mean Starmer had been found to have misled Parliament; it would ask the seven-member cross-party committee to investigate. (ukfactcheck.com) (news.sky.com) The Privileges Committee is the same Commons body that investigated Boris Johnson over Partygate. In Starmer’s case, MPs are now being asked whether his Mandelson answers should enter that same formal parliamentary process. (news.sky.com)