Starmer ‘will resign’ if fined for Covid breach

Sir Keir Starmer has committed to doing “the right thing and step down” as Labour leader if he is fined by police over an allegation he broke coronavirus laws.

The opposition leader repeatedly denied breaking the laws in a televised statement yesterday afternoon as he faces pressure over the curry and beer gathering in Durham last year.

He accused the Conservatives accusing him of breaking lockdown rules of “trying to feed cynicism to get the public to believe all politicians are the same”.

“I believe in honour, integrity and the principle that those who make the laws must follow them and I believe that politicians who undermine that principle, undermine trust in politics, undermine our democracy and undermine Britain,” he said, from Labour’s London headquarters,”

“I’m absolutely clear that no laws were broken, they were followed at all times, I simply had something to eat while working late in the evening as any politician would do days before an election.

“But if the police decide to issue me with a fixedpenalty notice I would, of course, do the right thing and step down.”

Having faced days of damaging headlines, Sir Keir was attempting to grab the initiative while putting pressure on Boris Johnson over his refusal to resign after being fined by police for a lockdown breach. Questions remained over whether Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, would stand down if Durham Constabulary suggests he may have broken the rules but does not issue a fine, as it did with Dominic Cummings.

Sir Keir first told reporters: “If you’ve made a law you should respect the law and if you’re found to be in breach of it you should step down.”

But pressed further on the scenario, he said: “The penalty for a Covid breach is a fixed-penalty notice, that’s a matter of law, and I’ve set out what the position is in relation to that.”

Angela Rayner issued a statement matching Sir Keir’s commitment and insisting she was at the event “working in my capacity as deputy leader and that no rules were broken”.

“Eating during a long day’s work was not against the rules,” she said.

“We have a prime minister who has been found to have broken the rules, lied about it and then been fined.

“If I were issued with a fine, I would do the decent thing and step down.”

The Labour leader had been under growing pressure to set out his position, having called for the resignation of the prime minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak after they were fined for a Covid breach.

A pre-emptive announcement on his future if he too is fined will enable him to continue calling for Mr Johnson to leave Downing Street while he is himself under investigation.

On Friday, Durham Constabulary said it had reversed an earlier decision on the case that no offence had been committed, after receiving “significant new information”.

Campaigners from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said Sir Keir’s announcement was

the “right decision” that “in contrast to Boris Johnson, shows integrity, decency and respect to the bereaved”.

Some 46% of people believe Sir Keir should resign if he is fined by police, according to a YouGov survey of 1,674 adults over the weekend.