Mr B.C

🚨 CONFIRMED: Keir Starmer will whip Labour MPs to vote against referring him to the Privileges Committee It means any Labour MP voting for it risks being suspended from the party

🚨 WATCH: Keir Starmer reveals his wife Victoria is encouraging him to stay on as Prime Minister "I confide in her all the time. Hers is the best advice. I'm just thankful that I've got her everyday"

NEW: Head of UK vetting Ian Collard says No10 DID apply pressure over Lord Mandelson's clearance - but he says this did not affect the outcome. His evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee has just been published. Did he – or his team – feel under pressure to deliver Lord Mandelson’s clearance and how did this manifest itself? Please list the various people who were “chasing” over the period. "Yes. Director ESND says he felt pressure to deliver a rapid outcome to the vetting clearance procedure, in light of regular contact from No 10 to the FCDO PUS’s office. Director ESND did not personally speak to colleagues in No 10. He does not assess that this pressure influenced the professional judgement that was reached by himself or his team."

NEW: Downing Street is furious that this Privileges Committee vote is going ahead tomorrow A No10 spokesperson said: “The government is engaging with the two parliamentary processes that are already running on Peter Mandelson’s appointment with full transparency. “This is a desperate political stunt by the Conservative Party the week before the May elections because they have no answers on the cost of living or the NHS. Their claims have no substance.”

Labour MP tells HuffPost UK that calls for a Privileges Committee investigation into whether Keir Starmer misled the house over the Mandelson vetting scandal are a "complete waste of time". "Boris Johnson’s parties in breach of lockdown rules were of a wholly different magnitude of severity," the MP said. "Besides, the PM has been truthful about due process throughout." Meanwhile, Emily Thornberry has accused opposition parties of playing political games ahead of the elections on May 7. The Foreign Affairs Committee chair said: "I don’t really see why we are doing it at the moment apart from potentially people trying to score points in advance of the local elections. I’m sorry to say that and I’m not supposed to be partisan on this but it is plain as the nose on my face what’s going on here.”