Steve Reed hit out at the ‘usual suspects’ who voted for a Tory motion calling for the Privileges Committee to investigate Keir Starmer over the Peter Mandelson scandal
A minister has lashed out at Labour MPs who defied the party whip and voted for Keir Starmer to face an investigation over the Peter Mandelson scandal.
Steve Reed dismissed the “usual suspects” after 15 backbenchers supported a Tory call for the powerful Privileges Committee to probe the PM. The Housing Secretary told Sky News: “The vast majority of us voted together. 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. 99% of us are united with the prime Minister so that we can focus on the issues that matter to them.”
READ MORE: Keir Starmer sees off bid to trigger Commons sleaze inquiry into Mandelson scandalREAD MORE: 16 key points from Morgan McSweeney’s Mandelson grilling from phone theft to betrayal
On Tuesday evening MPs voted down a Tory motion to refer Mr Starmer to the committee – which investigated Boris Johnson over Partygate – for a probe into whether he misled MPs on Lord Mandelson’s appointment. Kemi Badenoch was accused of playing political games by calling the vote, which the Government won by 335 votes to 223 – a majority of 112.
As well as the 15 rebels, another 53 Labour MPs did not vote, but some of them may have been away or ill. The 15 who rebelled were Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Mary Kelly Foy, Imran Hussain, Brian Leishman, Emma Lewell, Rebecca Long Bailey, Andy McDonald, John McDonnell, Grahame Morris, Luke Myer, Kate Osborne, Cat Smith and Nadia Whittome.
Mr Reed said it was “really encouraging” that the vast majority of Labour MPs had voted with the Government, accusing the Tories of playing games.
Mr Reed said there is a “real sense of unity” and determination within the Parliamentary party. He said: “The Tories called this vote really for party political reasons. There’s it’s right there should be scrutiny over this issue.
“We’re getting that through the publication of papers and documents and the humble address (which forced the release of documents), and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee carrying out their work.
“But voters want us to focus on the issues that matter most to them. And I’ve knocked on dozens, hundreds of doors over recent weeks because of the elections coming. It’s really the cost of living that people want us to talk about. And that’s what we’ll do.”
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Cabinet Minister Darren Jones accused Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch of “ranting incoherence”, and branded the move a “politically motivated spectacle”. He told MPs: “Rather than focus on the issues that affect our constituents and the country most, what do the opposition benches do?
“They try to shift the goalposts and have tried again and again to make their arguments fit. Today alone we have heard them bounce from one accusation to another in a desperate search for something that will stick.”
Several Labour MPs voiced their anger at being ordered to oppose the motion. Ms Whittome said: “If we’re to preserve what little trust still remains in our political system, it is vital that ministers demonstrate the utmost transparency, and it’s vital that we as MPs, no matter our political allegiance, do not allow the impression that we are in any way attempting to cover things up for the leadership of our parties.”
And Mr Leishman said: “This motion is designed to embarrass the Prime Minister and put Labour MPs in an awkward position. And not for the first time as Labour MPs, we are in an awkward position and not for the first time, it is because of the Prime Minister’s actions and not that of the opposition.”