Police silent over Starmer ‘beergate’

Minister adds to pressure on force to investigate Labour leader’s drinks and curry during lockdown

Durham police have not made contact with Sir Keir Starmer over renewed “beergate” allegations, as the Labour leader insisted he had gone back to work after stopping for a 10pm curry with colleagues during lockdown. Sir Keir has confirmed he will co-operate with any fresh investigation as pressure mounted on the force to reopen the case and look into whether he broke coronavirus rules when he was photographed drinking a beer on April 30 last year.

DURHAM Constabulary have not made contact with Sir Keir Starmer over renewed “beergate” allegations, as the Labour leader insisted he had gone back to work after stopping for a 10pm curry with colleagues during lockdown.

Sir Keir has confirmed he will cooperate with any fresh investigation as pressure mounted on the force to reopen the case and probe whether he broke coronavirus regulations when he was photographed drinking a beer on April 30 last year.

Social gatherings indoors were banned at the time, but the Labour Party have insisted no laws were broken because Sir Keir and colleagues, including Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, were simply on a break and returned to work after they had eaten.

But Tory critics have questioned whether it is plausible they had carried out working that late into the evening.

Anne-marie Trevelyan, the International Trade Secretary, became the latest Cabinet minister to back calls for Durham Police to reopen the case.

She told Sky News: “If there is evidence brought to the police which makes them need to investigate whether or not those Covid rules were broken, they should do so.”

When asked if the police had been back in touch with him about the investigation, Sir Keir repeatedly dodged the question.

He said: “Look, they’ve already concluded their investigation, no rules were broken and this is simply being whipped up as mud-slinging by the Tories.”

Last night, a spokesman for Durham Constabulary said there had been no update in the case and sources confirmed detectives had not been back in touch with the Labour leader.

Sir Keir said it was “absurd” to suggest that people did not work after 10pm.

He told the BBC: “We stopped, we didn’t break the rules, the police looked at it months ago. The rest of it is pure politics from the Conservative Party.”

Asked if he would co-operate with the police, he said: “Well, of course, but they looked at it before, there’s nothing that they found to be wrong. This is pure and simple distraction from the real issue, which is the cost of living.

“We were working, we stopped for food, no party, no rules were broken; I don’t know what I can add to that.”

Asked if he returned to work after, he replied: “Yes, the idea that nobody works at 10 o’clock at night is absurd.”

The Labour leader was photographed drinking a beer during a meeting last April in the Durham constituency office of Mary Foy, the local MP.

Durham Police looked into the matter in January but concluded that no rules had been broken because it was a work event.

At the time of the gathering, nonessential retail and outdoor venues, including pub gardens, were open but social distancing rules, which included a ban on indoor mixing between households, remained in place.

But following the Met’s decision to issue the Prime Minister with a fixed penalty notice over a birthday event in Downing Street, Durham Constabulary faced calls to reopen its investigation.

Richard Holden, a Conservative MP, wrote to the force asking officers to reinvestigate its findings.

‘If there is evidence brought to the police on whether Covid rules were broken, they should investigate’