Rayner faces pressure over ‘beergate’ event
Party leader says there has been no breach of the rules as Tory MPS call for police to reopen investigation
Angela Rayner is under pressure to explain why Labour “lied” about her attendance at a lockdown event where Sir Keir Starmer was photographed drinking a beer with colleagues. Labour at first denied that Ms Rayner was with him at a gathering in Durham, in April 2021, when indoor socialising was banned. Yesterday, Sir Keir said it did not matter whether his deputy had attended the event. “There was no breach of the rules, the matter has already been looked into,” he said.
ANGELA RAYNER is under pressure to explain why Labour “lied” about her attendance at a lockdown event where Sir Keir Starmer was controversially photographed drinking a beer with colleagues.
Labour at first denied that Ms Rayner was with him at a gathering in the constituency office of Mary Foy, the Labour MP for City of Durham, in April last year, when indoor socialising was banned.
Yesterday Sir Keir said it did not matter whether his deputy had attended the event, as he sought to play down the story.
“Whether Angela Rayner was there or not makes no difference,” he said. “There was no breach of the rules, the matter has already been looked into.
“Stark contrast between that and the goings-on at Downing Street where we know there were 50 fines issued already and an investigation still going on, so there’s absolutely no comparison to be made here.”
An image taken through the window of Ms Foy’s office showed Sir Keir drinking from a bottle of beer with colleagues, including an unidentified fair-haired woman facing away from the camera.
The story led to criticism of the Labour leader when it broke, after Sir Keir had condemned Boris Johnson over parties in Downing Street.
Ms Rayner has now been revealed to have attended the same event in Durham, after videos published online showed her and Sir Keir attending online rallies from the same building that evening.
After the evidence was presented to Labour by the Daily Mail this week, the party admitted that Ms Rayner had been in the room and apologised for an “honest mistake” over its original claim she was not there.
Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for North West Durham, has called for police to reopen an investigation into the incident.
“What the public want is to see is the rule of law applied equally across the country,” he said last night. “Why would you deny somebody was there unless you were trying to hide something?.
“Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have failed to explain the difference between what they stand accused of doing and what the Prime Minister has already apologised for.”
‘Why would you deny somebody was there unless you were trying to hide something?’
Mr Holden, who has written to Durham Constabulary asking them to reopen inquiries, suggested that Labour may also have misled the original investigation if it had not told the truth to the media.
He said: “The question now is: what exactly did Labour tell Durham police at the time, and has that version of events now changed, given that the version of events they are telling the press and the public has changed?”
Michael Fabricant, another Tory MP, said: “The thing about ‘beergate’ is, like Watergate, it is not the event that kills you, it’s the cover-up and the lying.”
Labour has acknowledged it previously told journalists that Ms Rayner was not at the event last year, but said it was a “mistake made in good faith”.
“Keir Starmer was in the workplace, meeting a local MP in her office and participating in an online Labour Party event,” a spokesman said. “They paused for food as the meeting was during the evening. No rules were broken. There is simply no comparison between standing in a kitchen having something to eat between meetings, with multiple, flagrant rule-breaking drinks parties at the heart of government, dismissed by lies at the despatch box and resulting in an apology to the Queen.”
Durham Constabulary has confirmed it has received “further communications” about the incident and is reexamining evidence, although it has not formally reopened the investigation.
In February, the force said it did not consider that Sir Keir’s actions constituted a breach of the rules.
Sources told The Daily Telegraph on Thursday that Sir Keir will not be given a fine if he is found to have breached lockdown rules because Durham police has a policy of not taking retrospective action against Covid-19 lawbreakers.
Labour sources acknowledged it is possible that the woman visible in the photograph of Sir Keir drinking a beer in Ms Foy’s constituency office could be Ms Rayner, but said it was difficult to be sure because of the quality of the image.