PMQs dwell: Keir Starmer faces pre-election showdown with Kemi Badenoch after crunch Mandelson vote

This morning Steve Reed dismissed suggestions that Labour colleagues will be accused of a cover-up over the Lord Mandelson vetting row.

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, the Housing Secretary told Times Radio: “No, because there’s more scrutiny on this issue than almost any issue I can think of.”

Asked whether the 14 Labour MPs 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.”