Sir Keir Starmer’s sizeable parliamentary majority may have protected him from a difficult and protracted inquiry into whether he misled parliament, but it will come at a cost – both to him and the MPs who trotted through the ‘No’ lobby on his behalf.
It is true that the prime minister, as he has often had to do, has toughed it out and rallied the troops to back him up. And the opposition parties most notably Tory leader Kemi Badenoch were almost certainly trying a political stunt against him as he alleged.
However, the effort to save the prime minister from the consequences of his own misjudgement will have an impact in the near future, and for years to come.
It will play out in the local and devolved elections on 7 May, with the faces of each Labour MP who voted to stop the inquiry likely to feature on the campaign leaflets and social media posts for any opposition candidates trying to beat a Labour rival.
It will certainly test the claim that this is only a Westminster bubble story and feed into the “they are all the same” thinking about politicians that is so pervasive in this country.
But there is a far more serious consequence to what has just happened – precedent.
Just four years ago the Tories set a precedent by not using their majority to block an investigation into Boris Johnson lying to parliament. Subsequently the Tory MPs on the Privileges Committee did their job, found Johnson guilty and agreed to the punishment.
Johnson had his supporters but those Tories who forced the inquiry into him and then forced him out of Downing Street undoubtedly put integrity before party.
For the parliamentary processes to work then that is what needs to happen. It is why MPs are described as “honourable” members, they are supposed to be honourable.
This was underlined in a powerful speech by Sir Roger Gale, a veteran Tory MP who led the way in bringing Johnson to book at great personal discomfort.
But now Labour has in effect turned that precedent on its head. They have now opened the door for the executive to use its majority to block parliamentary process and protect the very integrity of British democracy.
It is important to note, as many Labour grandees have pointed out, that there are some marked differences between the allegations leveled at Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer, and former cabinet ministers David Blunkett and Alan Johnson have dismissed any cimparions as “absurd”.
But Labour MPs have left themselves open to the accusation of putting party before integrity. Indeed a number of the minority of Labour MPs who abstained or voted with the opposition parties wondered aloud why Starmer had not referred himself to the committee to clear his name.
The problem is that this will be repeated in years to come.
For example, should Reform win a majority at the next election – still possible according to some polls – then Nigel Farage could, in the face of any accusations of lying or rule-breaking, use his majority to block an inquiry.
Labour would not be in a position to complain because Reform will simply point out that they would only be doing the same as they did for Starmer.
The Tories are unlikely to subject a leader to this process again if they ever win power.
The way the Commons works is through convention not hard rules. It relies on MPs doing the right thing and following precedent. When convention is torn up there is nothing else to turn to.
That is what Labour did today by whipping the vote to protect Starmer whether he was guilty or not.
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