Mark Francois declares Keir Starmer's resignation is the 'only way' for Labour to draw a line under Peter Mandelson scandal

Mr Francois told Good Afternoon Britain: "The Prime Minister's in trouble for three reasons, firstly, because he was unbelievably sanctimonious when he was prosecuting Boris Johnson.

"When he was on the other side of the despatch box, he was going to be absolutely pure and unimpeachable. Well, I think the public can see the hypocrisy in that."

Mr Francois continued: "Secondly, no one believes him. Everybody knows that Mandelson was his man, it was his choice. Every day there's another revelation.

"It's absolutely obvious by now, the PM leant on the civil service to try and fast track that appointment. The only way Labour can get rid of this problem is to get rid of the man who caused it, and that ultimately means the Prime Minister."

Listing a third reason, the Tory MP argued his party's leader Kemi Badenoch did a "great job" in leading the debate on the upcoming vote.

He said: "Thirdly, I thought Kemi Badenoch did a great job in the debate today in pressing home the case to refer it to the Privileges Committee. But unlike the Prime Minister, at least Kemi Badenoch buys her own seats."

Rebuffing claims from Labour MPs that the motion for the vote is a "distraction", Mr Francois hit back: "This is incredibly important that the ambassador to Washington would have been privy to extremely sensitive intelligence material, potentially about things like nuclear cooperation and the war in Ukraine.

"And we now know that Mandelson, even post the Russian invasion in Ukraine, was acting as a director of a Russian defence company. This is extremely serious.

"It's not a distraction to concentrate on risks to national security. The first duty of any Government is the defence of the realm, and so they're rightfully being held to account."

In a swipe at Sir Keir, he recalled: "And I remember Starmer in opposition baying for Boris Johnson to be referred to the privileges committee. Now the boot's on the other foot, oh, it's all a distraction and it's a stunt. No, it's not Prime Minister. This was your man.

"You insisted on him being appointed, it was your decision, you need to be held to account for it."

Defending former senior civil servant Sir Olly Robbins, the Tory MP then argued the bus was "thrown right back" at the Prime Minister upon hearing the evidence at the Foreign Affairs Committee.

He said: "He tried to throw Olly Robbins under the bus at the Foreign Affairs Select Committee – Robbins picked the bus up and threw it right back at him.

"The Prime Minister is the person ultimately at fault, and the only way that Labour will atone for this is when the Prime Minister resigns. There's no other way they can draw a line under it."

Pressed by GB News host Dawn Neesom on whether he agrees with viewers that Sir Keir is a "coward", Mr Francois responded: "Well, look, there was a vote last night to do in our Northern Ireland veterans, something I'm passionately opposed to, and Starmer heavily whipped his Labour MPs to vote for that.

"And then he abstained, he didn't even turn up. Neither did Nigel Farage, incidentally, which I was quite surprised about.

"But the Prime Minister blew the whistle to send his troops over the top to do Sinn Fein a favour, and then didn't even have the guts to obey his own order and go through the lobbies with his own backbenchers, and that's why so many of them are sick and tired of him."

In a statement, 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."

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