LABOUR’S LOCKDOWN LIES AND HYPOCRISY
■ Rayner WAS at Sir Keir’s ‘beergate’ event — despite Party denying it ■ Four MPs tell how she joked to them about using Sharon Stone ploy at PMQs ■ Starmer flouted lockdown guidance at his OWN birthday bash... with cake!
LABOUR last night admitted it had lied about an event at which Sir Keir Starmer is alleged to have broken lockdown rules.
In a sensational U-turn, Labour acknowledged that Angela Rayner was also at the event on April 30 last year at which Sir Keir was filmed enjoying a beer with officials at a time when indoor socialising was banned.
A Labour spokesman said last night: ‘Angela was present.’ A party source claimed the previous denials had been ‘an honest mistake’.
It directly contradicts assurances given to the Daily Mail over the past three months that Mrs Rayner was ‘not there’.
The admission came only after this newspaper confronted Labour officials with video evidence that Mrs Rayner had joined Sir Keir at an online rally for activists filmed in the Durham offices of Labour MP Mary Foy where the party leader was later seen drinking.
The extraordinary revelation raises questions about whether Labour’s deputy leader also broke lockdown rules.
Conservative MP Brendan ClarkeSmith said last night: ‘For all their sanctimony about honesty and transparency, it’s plain to see that Labour have not told the truth about Keir Starmer’s lockdown drinks party.
‘Why would they lie about Angela Rayner’s presence if they thought the event was legal? It makes you wonder what else they are hiding.’
In another astonishing development, the Mail can reveal that Mrs Foy was forced to apologise this week after
A LABOUR MP launched a ‘drunken tirade’ against the Conservative MP leading calls for the police to review claims Sir Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules.
Three witnesses told the Daily Mail that Mary Foy vented her fury at Richard Holden on the Commons terrace on Tuesday night.
She is said to have verbally abused him for asking Durham Police to reopen the investigation into footage of the Labour leader having a beer with officials in her office on April 30, 2021.
Witnesses claim the City of Durham MP grabbed Mr Holden by the arm with both hands and tried to drag him across the terrace before staff restrained her. Each witness said the former charity worker, 54, appeared to have been drinking heavily when the incident took place at around 10pm as MPs waited for late-night votes.
Mr Holden confirmed he had received a written apology from Mrs Foy the following morning. He said: ‘Mary has apologised for her totally unacceptable, drunken behaviour on the terrace and I want to leave it at that.’
A Tory source said Mrs Foy’s behaviour suggested the ‘pressure is showing’ on Labour as Durham Police face calls to finally launch a proper investigation into Sir Keir.
Mrs Foy declined to comment on the allegations when contacted yesterday and referred all questions to Labour’s press office. A party source confirmed she had issued a personal apology.
The source said the pair had been drinking together in a group where there was ‘a bit of back and forth on politics generally’.
They added that it was ‘incorrect’ to say Mrs Foy had grabbed Mr Holden’s arm, but did not comment on claims she was drunk.
But several witnesses said they were shocked by the ferocity of her tirade.
One added: ‘She came storming over and just started shouting at him in the most abusive way, swearing at him and accusing him of dragging her into the whole Starmer thing. It took place in her office so she’s maybe worried that if he gets fined, she’ll get fined. He was doing well staying calm and making the point that his target wasn’t her, it was Starmer.
‘But she was steaming. She grabbed his arm and her staff had to pull her away. One of them came back and was very apologetic. Her behaviour was completely outrageous. If a male MP had behaved to a female MP like that, they’d have been hauled before the Speaker.’
A second witness said: ‘She was screaming at him, “How dare you name me and my office in this?” She was finger-jabbing and shouting. He was trying to stay calm and be polite but she was very aggressive – she was obviously drunk and feeling the pressure.’ A third source said: ‘Her staff were trying to restrain her but she just kept going. She was saying some pretty slanderous things and he told her that if he didn’t have an apology by the morning, he’d be reporting it to the Speaker.’
Last year, Sir Keir and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner took part in a virtual election event for activists from Durham Miners Hall, where Mrs Foy’s constituency office is based.
Mrs Foy was later seen chatting to Sir Keir while he enjoyed a beer in her office – at a time when indoor social gatherings were banned. Labour has insisted the footage – filmed by a passer-by – was a brief interlude in a ‘work event’.
Durham Police dismissed
‘Her behaviour was outrageous’
calls to investigate after reviewing the video in February. But Mr Holden asked the force to reopen the inquiry in light of fines issued to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak over a meeting involving cake in June 2020.