Keir Starmer faces sleaze probe over Lord Mandelson ‘cover-up’ as PM accused of ‘telling lie after lie’

Sir Keir Starmer has come under growing pressure over his decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as the UK’s man in Washington after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for an ethics probe.

The Prime Minister issued a grovelling apology during a visit to Northern Ireland yesterday.

However, the Tories and Reform UK have now put pressure on Sir Keir to resign over the scandal.

Mrs Badenoch last night doubled down on her criticisms of the Prime Minister, with the Tories last night sending a letter demanding an investigation into the release of a 147-page dossier on Wednesday.

She said: “I am astonished the Prime Minister can actually look himself in the mirror right now.

“It is very clear that he told lie after lie after lie about the appointment of Peter Mandelson.

“He has been dishonest with Parliament and with the country.”

“And Labour MPs, in good conscience, should be looking at whether or not this man should be leading our country.”

The Leader of the Opposition is also calling on the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus to investigate “serious deficiencies in the released material”.

Shadow Minister Alex Burghart wrote to Sir Magnus just 36 hours after the first batch of documents concerning Lord Mandelson’s appointment was released on Wednesday.

“There is no document disclosing whether these reservations were communicated to the Prime Minister,” Mr Burghart said.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has also suggested Sir Keir should refer himself to Sir Magnus.

No10 consistently denies there has been a cover-up.

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PM receives resignation warning over imminent release of Mandelson messages

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned a deluge of resignations could rock No10 following the imminent release of WhatsApp messages concerning Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador in the US.

The Guardian last night revealed that officials believe some of the exchanges to be released in the next tranche of Lord Mandelson files will be damaging enough to lead to further departures.

Senior ministers, civil servants and special advisers have been asked to have their phone messages examined, including ex-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

Morgan McSweeney had a "back and forth" with former communications director Matthew Doyle over Lord Mandelson's appointment.

Both men have since left Downing Street.

REVEALED: Tory letter to PM's ethics adviser on Mandelson files

Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart last night wrote to Sir Laurie Magnus about the release of the first batch of documents connected to Lord Mandelson's appointment as the UK's ambassador to the US.

He wrote: “The documents published on 11 March 2026 raise serious questions.

“They demonstrate that: the Prime Minister was warned of the risks of appointing Lord Mandelson and proceeded regardless; his own national security adviser described the process as ‘weirdly rushed’; his assurance to the House that ‘full due process was followed’ was not an accurate representation of events; and his subsequent claim that he would not have made the appointment had he known the facts is contradicted by the due diligence document he himself reviewed,” Mr Burghart wrote.

“I therefore ask you to undertake an investigation into whether the Prime Minister has broken the ministerial code.”

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