Starmer is Mr Rules.. he did not break law
Nandy backs her under-fire leader
LISA Nandy is confident boss Keir Starmer did not break lockdown laws insisting he is “Mr Rules”.
The Shadow Levelling Up Secretary blasted desperate attempts by the Conservatives to smear the Labour leader who “doesn’t break the rules”.
Police are investigating Mr Starmer’s trip to Durham on April 30, 2021, when he had beer and curry with others in city MP Mary Foy’s constituency office before a by-election in Hartlepool.
“This is a guy who self-isolated six times during the pandemic, ” Ms Nandy told Sky’s Ridge on Sunday show. “I don’t know a single other person who did that. He’s careful, he’s conscientious.
“They can fling as much mud as they like, it just isn’t going to stick.
“It is frankly absurd of the Tories to claim that this in any way equates to a Prime Minister under investigation for 12 separate gatherings which included karaoke, bring your own bottle parties [and] suitcases full of wine being smuggled through the back door.”
Mr Starmer has said the visit was a work event and that the food and drink was consumed in between doing work, so was within the rules.
An internal memo for the Durham trip apparently showed that an hour and twenty minutes were scheduled for the dinner in Durham – after which, the visit would end. He insists he went straight back to work after the meal.
But apparent witnesses told the Sunday Times some people at the dinner “were just getting p***ed”.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab accused Starmer of hypocrisy, telling Sky News: “He needs to fess up and answer all of the holes in the account.”
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey suggested that if any politician got a fixed-penalty notice, “it’s extremely difficult for them to continue”.
But Brexit Opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg – who dismissed partygate as “fluff ” – said Starmer’s probe was “in the same category of seriousness”.
Asked on Channel 4’s The Andrew Neil Show if Starmer should quit if he has broken the law, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “I think he should pay a fine and then talk about the issues of great importance to the nation.”
They can try & fling mud, it just isn’t going to stick
LISA NANDY ON KEIR STARMER’S CRITICS