LONDON: British lawmakers debated Tuesday whether to launch a parliamentary probe into Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a scandal surrounding sacked US envoy Peter Mandelson that he is struggling to shake off. Members of parliament discussed whether to refer Starmer to a committee to consider if he misled parliament over the appointment of the ex-associate of late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the plum diplomatic post. It is the latest development in an unrelenting controversy that has plagued Starmer&#39;s Labour government for months, hampering its work and leading to calls for him to resign. Opposition Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch said it was &quot;very obvious&quot; that what Starmer had told the House of Commons regarding Mandelson&#39;s 2024 appointment was &quot;not correct&quot;. &quot;It&#39;s clear that full due process was not followed,&quot; she told MPs, opening the debate, which was expected to last several hours and conclude with a vote on whether to open an inquiry. Starmer denies allegations that his office applied pressure on the foreign ministry to approve Mandelson&#39;s appointment as Britain&#39;s ambassador in Washington despite having failed security vetting. Earlier this month, Starmer sacked the most senior civil servant in the foreign office, Olly Robbins, for not telling him or other ministers that Mandelson had not passed the checks. Starmer commands a large majority in the lower house of parliament. MPs from his ruling Labour party have been ordered to vote against the motion, meaning it is unlikely to pass. Speaking&nbsp;to Sky News late on Monday, the prime minister branded the move &quot;a political stunt&quot; ahead of local elections in England, Scotland and Wales next week. &quot;We&#39;ve got huge amounts of transparency going on already,&quot; Starmer insisted. &#39;Serious mistake&#39; Starmer sacked Mandelson in September 2025 after a fresh batch of revelations came to light about the extent of the latter&#39;s friendship with Epstein, who reportedly died in prison in 2019. But the row has only escalated since, with Starmer&#39;s former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and ex-communications head Tim Allan forced to step down earlier this year. Starmer&#39;s cause has not been helped by the fact that UK police are investigating Mandelson over allegations he committed misconduct in office while serving as a Labour minister more than a decade ago. Mandelson is accused of leaking sensitive information to Epstein. He denies wrongdoing. On Tuesday, McSweeney told parliament&#39;s foreign affairs committee that he made a &quot;serious mistake&quot; in&nbsp;advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson. He denied telling officials that Mandelson&#39;s vetting checks &quot;should be cleared at all costs&quot;. Earlier, Robbins&#39; predecessor at the foreign office, Philip Barton, told the committee that it was unusual for an appointment to be announced before the vetting process was completed. MPs will decide whether the cross-party privileges committee, which investigates potential breaches of parliamentary conduct, should look into Starmer. That committee was responsible for former prime minister Boris Johnson&#39;s exit from frontline politics after it investigated him for misleading parliament over the so-called &quot;partygate&quot; breaches of Covid-19 laws. He quit as an MP in 2023 before the committee published a report recommending his suspension.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks during a visit to the Kenton district of London on April 23, 2026. (AFP)

Europe

British lawmakers debated launching a probe into Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the controversial Peter Mandelson appointment, amid claims he misled the British Parliament and bypassed proper vetting.

UK PM Starmer faces possible parliament inquiry over Mandelson

Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Britain&rsquo;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has sharply criticized Israel&rsquo;s blockade of Gaza, calling out the occupying power of creating a &ldquo;man-made famine&rdquo; on Wednesday, during a tense meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in London.&nbsp;The rare public rebuke by a Western leader towards Israel is part of rising concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more than 500 people have died due to starvation alone. Israel siege of the enclave has killed more than 64,000 people, including 18,000 children, since October 2023, as per Gaza&rsquo;s health ministry.&nbsp;A Downing Street spokesperson said that Starmer urged Israel to stop its offensive in the occupied territory and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza to prevent the situation from worsening.&nbsp;Protests in the UK during Israel President&rsquo;s visitHerzog&rsquo;s visit to the U.K. led to widespread protests across the country. Thousands protested outside the Downing Street for two consecutive days. Demonstrations also took place at Chatham House, where the Israeli President spoke. People banged pots and pans, accusing Israel of genocide.&nbsp;The Israeli president&rsquo;s visit to the U.K. comes on the heels of Israeli airstrikes on Doha, Qatar, a British ally. Israel claimed it was targeting Hamas leadership attending ceasefire talks in the Gulf country.&nbsp; Several countries condemned the attack, with the Qatari Prime Minister calling Israel move an act of &ldquo;state terrorism.&rdquo; Israel also targeted the Houthis in Yemen on Wednesday. The British PM condemned the strike as &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo; and a &ldquo;flagrant violation&rdquo; of Qatar&rsquo;s sovereignty. Despite this, the British premier did not shy away from endorsing the U.K.&rsquo;s longstanding relationship with Israel.&nbsp;&nbsp;Cracks forming&nbsp;Starmer&rsquo;s meeting with Herzog did reveal deep disagreements on key issues, including the U.K.&rsquo;s intention to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel meets certain conditions&mdash;agreeing to a ceasefire and allowing aid access.&nbsp;The Israeli President described the talks as &ldquo;tough&rdquo; but respectful, saying he welcomed the opportunity for open debate between two democratic allies.&nbsp;Starmer meets Palestinian Authority president &nbsp;Earlier in the week, Starmer also met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, agreeing there must be &ldquo;absolutely no role&rdquo; for Hamas in any future Palestinian government.&nbsp;The U.K. has been under pressure domestically to adopt a tougher stance on Israel&rsquo;s war crimes in Gaza, while Starmer has insisted that diplomacy remains essential to securing a ceasefire and securing the release of hostages held by Hamas.&nbsp;&nbsp;Starmer&rsquo;s decision to meet Israeli President amid worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza was sharply criticized within the U.K. Scottish National Party leader Stephen Flynn blasted the British PM for hosting Herzog while children starved in Gaza.&nbsp;Herzog: A controversial figureWhile the role of a president is mostly ceremonial in Israel, Isaac Herzog is a controversial leader in his own right. He blamed Gaza&rsquo;s entire population for the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. He also personally signed artillery shells fired at Gaza.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer sits with Israel's President Isaac Herzog as he visits 10 Downing Street in London, Sept. 10, 2025. Alberto PezzaliPool via REUTERS.avif

Middle East

The rare public rebuke by a Western leader toward Israel is part of rising concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, 

Articles tagged with "British prime minister Keir Starmer"

UK PM Starmer faces possible parliament inquiry over Mandelson

UK PM condemns Gaza blockade in tense meeting with Israeli President