Lee Anderson ejected from Commons after refusing to withdraw claim Starmer “lied”
Lee Anderson has been expelled from the Commons after accusing Keir Starmer of lying in a debate.
The Reform UK MP was reprimanded by Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle after suggesting the PM was lying about what he knew regarding Peter Mandelson’s vetting. This occurred as Mr. Starmer expressed his anger at Foreign Office officials for being uninformed about the scandal.
In a tense debate in the chamber, the Tory defector told Mr. Starmer: "The problem the Prime Minister has is that no one believes him. The public doesn’t believe him, the MPs on this side of the House don’t believe him, his own gullible backbenchers don’t believe him. So does the Prime Minister agree with me? He’s been lying."
Sir Lindsay intervened: "We don’t use those words. And I’m sure the member will withdraw it." Mr. Anderson responded: "Mr. Speaker, I have the greatest respect for you and your office. But I will not withdraw. That man couldn’t lie straight in bed."
Sir Lindsay replied: “Mr. Anderson, you’ll have to leave.”
Under parliamentary procedure, MPs are not allowed to accuse other members of lying - and they must withdraw any such comment.
Later, Your Party MP Zarah Sultana was also ordered out of the chamber after calling Mr. Starmer a liar.
A furious Ms. Sultana, who used to sit on the Labour benches, said: "He (Mr. Starmer) is gaslighting the nation. So let’s call this out for what it is. The Prime Minister is a barefaced liar."
Sir Lindsay called on MPs to vote on suspending Ms. Sultana from the House, which they duly did. It comes nearly an hour after Reform UK’s Lee Anderson was ordered out of the Commons.
On social media, Labour MP Jacob Collier said: "Two MPs kicked out of the Chamber for unparliamentary behavior, purely so they can put a clip on social media for their supporters. Appalling conduct."
During a debate lasting more than two hours, the Prime Minister scrambled to contain the fallout from the row after it emerged last week Lord Mandelson failed security vetting - yet was still appointed Britain’s Ambassador to the US.
The PM told the chamber this afternoon that it "beggars belief" he wasn’t told Lord Mandelson failed vetting. Mr. Starmer has long been under pressure over his decision to appoint the Labour grandee, who had known links to disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In a high-stakes Commons showdown, Mr. Starmer insisted he would have canceled Lord Mandelson’s appointment as the UK’s top diplomat in Washington had he known the full facts. Launching a scathing attack on the Foreign Office - days after sacking the top official Sir Olly Robbins at the department - he said there was a "deliberate decision" taken repeatedly not to inform him.
Mr. Starmer told MPs: "I know many members across the House will find these facts to be incredible, and to that I can only say that they are right. It beggars belief throughout the whole timeline of events, officials in the Foreign Office saw fit to withhold this information from the most senior ministers in our system of government. That is not how the vast majority of people in this country expects politics, government, or accountability to work, and I do not think it’s how most public servants think it should work.”
The PM’s statement comes as Sir Olly, the former head of the Foreign Office, prepares to face MPs tomorrow morning after being sacked by Mr. Starmer on Thursday. Speaking earlier, a close friend of Sir Olly said he was "heartbroken".
UN official Tom Fletcher said: "I’ve known Olly well for a long time - this is a guy who has public service and integrity stitched into his DNA in a way I haven’t seen in any other single individual. And I’ve worked with so many people inside governments. He’s had an utterly rough few days and he’s a pretty strong kind of character, but I think he’s heartbroken."
Politics Editor
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