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Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of lying to Parliament and bluntly demanded his resignation. The Conservative leader launched a brutal attack on Sir Keir during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons, urging him to “finally take responsibility and go”.

Mrs Badenoch said Sir Keir had blamed former civil servant Sir Olly Robbins for the mistakes made in the appointment of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US. And she also highlighted the new revelation that No 10 tried to find a diplomatic role for Lord Doyle, a former Downing Street communications chief who was later discovered to have continued a friendship with a man charged with sex offences.

Mrs Badenoch referred to tough House of Commons rules that mean MPs cannot accuse each other of lying. But she used a form of words making it clear this was what she meant.

She said: “Mr Speaker, I cannot accuse the Prime Minister of deliberately misleading the house, but everyone can see what happened.”

And she said: “Will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility and go?”

Mrs Badenoch raised concerns that Lord Mandelson had been a security risk after he was given the sensitive Washington role.

Sir Keir declined to deny that Downing Street considered giving Lord Doyle a diplomatic job.

The Prime Minister said there were “often conversations about other roles” when staff leave roles “in any organisation”.

But he insisted the evidence of Sir Olly to MPs on Tuesday “puts to bed all the allegations levelled at me” in relation to misleading Parliament about Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.