Privileges probe into Starmer unlikely, but potentially dangerous

Sorry to disappoint the vultures circling around Sir Keir Starmer, but a potentially fatal probe by parliament's Privileges Committee remains unlikely.

Even the prime minister's fiercest critics on the Labour benches, or supporters of rivals like Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham, are unlikely to pull the trigger on his political assassination right now.

But, on the other hand, if the prime minister were to sanction his own political death by allowing Kemi Badeoch's motion accusing him of misleading MPs to pass, the result could be calamitous for him.

The committee is made up of four Labour MPs, two Conservatives and a Liberal Democrat. So, in theory the government has a majority. In theory, that is.

But we saw when the same committee killed off Boris Johnson's premiership in 2022 that its members don't necessarily vote along party lines in these matters.

One of the Tories who turned against Mr Johnson over "party-gate" was the softly spoken Scot Alberto Costa, a former solicitor, who now chairs the committee.

The furious soon-to-be ex-prime minister said the committee's "purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the fact".

This, he said, was "the very definition of a kangaroo court".

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Ominously for Sir Keir, one of the Labour MPs on the committee, left-winger Paula Barker, is one of the strongest Labour critics of Lord Mandelson's appointment as US ambassador.

In a radio interview last September, she said: "During the general election campaign, it was very clear that we had to restore the public's faith in politicians and we had to raise standards. And I absolutely agree with that.

"But appointing Peter Mandelson was an absolute betrayal of that. It smacks of putting party before the country, which is something that we said we wouldn't do."

Recalling that Labour welfare rebels were suspended, she added: "And yet we have a man like Mandelson who is just basically allowed to get away with this. I just think it's absolutely disgusting, quite frankly."

Another Labour MP on the committee, Gill Furniss, was a Gaza rebel. The other two are Gareth Snell and Michael Wheeler. The second Tory is Neil Shastri-Hurst, a former soldier, doctor and barrister, and the Lib Dem is Anna Sabine.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The prime minister has already come out fighting, with a No 10 spokesperson denouncing the Tory leader's move as "a desperate political stunt the week before the May elections".

And Emily Thornberry, whose Foreign Affairs Committee is about to grill former Foreign Office mandarin Sir Philip Barton and the prime minister's former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, says: "We don't want the privileges committee to be cutting or duplicating the work we're doing."

It would be a major shock if Ms Badenoch's motion was passed. So don't hold your breath!

(c) Sky News 2026: Privileges probe into Starmer unlikely, but potentially dangerous