Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Mike Wood has branded Sir Keir Starmer a “dead duck” whilst accusing him of deceiving Parliament on “multiple occasions”.
Speaking to GB News, the Conservative frontbencher claimed the Prime Minister had “repeatedly lied” to conceal his controversial decision to appoint an individual with alleged security concerns to a senior ambassadorial role.
“Clearly the Prime Minister is fatally wounded,” Wood stated.
“He’s a dead duck, Prime Minister really, for very good reason that he’s misled Parliament.”
Mr Wood questioned whether Sir Keir would apply the same resignation standards to himself that he had “sanctimoniously” demanded of others during his time in opposition.
He laid out his accusations in stark terms, asserting that Starmer had personally selected and appointed someone he described as “a clear security risk and friend of a convicted sex trafficker” to a highly sensitive diplomatic posting.
“The facts are clear,” Mr Wood told GB News.
“We know that he personally chose, appointed a clear security risk and friend of a convicted sex trafficker to one of the most sensitive ambassadorial positions that we have.”
Keir Starmer has been branded a ‘dead duck Prime Minister’ by Mike Wood ahead of key Commons vote
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PA / GB NEWS
The shadow minister alleged the Prime Minister had subsequently attempted to obscure this judgement through dishonesty, claiming it was “now clear that he also then repeatedly lied to try to cover up that poor judgement.”
Mr Wood also took aim at the Government’s expected approach to the forthcoming vote, pointing to Labour’s own previous position on parliamentary procedure.
He noted that before the last general election, Sir Keir’s shadow ministers had been emphatic that imposing a whip on matters of house business would be “completely improper”.
“And if the Government tries to whip this tomorrow, it shows once again, they’re not prepared to follow their own rules,” Mr Wood declared.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has confirmed that Keir Starmer is set to face crunch a vote on Tuesday over claims he misled MPs
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PARLIAMENT TVThe shadow minister argued this demonstrated a pattern of the Government abandoning the principles it had championed whilst in opposition, accusing Labour of refusing to adhere to standards it had previously set for itself.
Mr Wood issued a direct challenge to Labour backbenchers, urging them to demonstrate greater resolve than their leader by supporting a Privileges Committee investigation.
“The question is whether his own members of Parliament will file in blindly behind him, covering up the indefensible, or whether they’ve actually got more of a backbone than the Prime Minister does,” he said.
The shadow minister suggested Labour MPs might move to oust Sir Keir following the local elections, calling on them to “replace him with someone who’s up to the job” who could deliver the honesty and transparency he had “so piously promised” before entering Downing Street.
Mr Wood questioned whether Labour backbenchers have the ‘backbone’ to vote in favour of an investigation
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GB NEWS
He concluded: “Clearly, the Prime Minister is fatally wounded. Whether he decides he wants to carry on for a few more weeks, tries to make it even into a month, or to get towards the second anniversary. He’s a dead duck, Prime Minister really, for very good reason that he’s misled Parliament.
“He’s misled the public, he’s taken terrible decisions throughout, and so it’s a question of whether Labour members of Parliament have the courage to replace him with someone who’s up to the job, will deliver the honesty and transparency that he so piously promised us over and over again.”
A No10 spokesman told GB News: “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.”