Shameful dereliction of the Beergate police

DURING any normal course of events, the investigative antennas of officers at Durham Constabulary would surely have been twitching wildly.

Angela Rayner originally claimed not to have attended Sir Keir Starmer’s notorious ‘beer and pizza’ bash at a constituency office last April. Months later she is forced to admit she was there after all.

So why would she deny it? The only plausible explanation is that Labour’s deputy leader knew full well the gathering breached lockdown rules.

Yet with risible hauteur, Durham Police say it won’t be looking into the matter.

Even the Prime Minister’s most virulent critics must agree its decision smacks of appalling double standards – and a shameful dereliction of duty.

When Mr Johnson and his staff were found to have had a few drinks after work, fines were issued and several careers subsequently destroyed.

But when Sir Keir and his cronies are snapped doing exactly the same thing, it’s a case of ‘move on, nothing to see here’.

Labour’s leader maintains he was simply taking a short break at a work event.

But are we really to believe that at 10.04pm, after alcohol had been consumed, Starmer and his colleagues packed away their pizza boxes and continued with their work? The idea stretches credulity.

As for Durham Police, their decision to look the other way is hardly surprising.

Their original investigation into the alleged wrongdoing was a joke. A video was cursorily studied. No one was interviewed.

Meanwhile, the local Labour Police and Crime Commissioner has (surprise, surprise) declined to get involved. She was even pictured in a cosy set-up with Sir Keir.

It is hard not to feel that this whole sorry saga is being orchestrated by officials who are supposed to be politically neutral.

As we report today, a barrister advising Sue Gray’s Partygate report is a card carrying member of the Labour party who has publically attacked Boris Johnson. So much for impartiality!

Sir Keir has spent months moralising over the Prime Minister’s lockdown indiscretions. And he has done so while cynically exploiting the grief of those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.

At the same time, he has wasted hours of Parliamentary time when MPs have had far more pressing matters to deal with.

If he had an ounce of integrity, Sir Keir would now announce a full and independent inquiry into his own rule breaking. Otherwise, accept the charge of being a sanctimonious, chateau-bottled hypocrite.