Durham Police should reopen an investigation into whether Sir Keir Starmer broke coronavirus laws, a minister has said.
The labor leader he has been under pressure since footage emerged of him having a beer with colleagues in April 2021 when restrictions were in place.
Speaking on Sky News, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said officials should “look at it again” with “all the new evidence” that has come forward.
He added that if police “feel that a fixed penalty notice should be issued, then clearly that would be the tool available to do so.”
But Ms Trevelyan said Sir Keir should not have to resign as leader of the Labor Party if he were given a notice of fixed sanction, adding: “Personally I don’t think it’s a matter of resignation.”
It came as Boris Johnson confirmed he hasn’t received any more fines over the Downing Street party scandal, but told ITV’s Good Morning Britain show “I have no idea” if he will get another.
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Monday, Sir Keir accused Conservative MPs of “libeling” over the images. of him having a beer with others in an office at a time of COVID-19 restrictions
He told the announcers that those in the photo were working and stopped for a bite to eat and “no rules were broken.”
At that time, people in England were Indoor mixing prohibited except for work..
On Tuesday, the Labor leader was asked three times if Durham police had contacted his office again about the matter and repeatedly evaded the question.
“There was no party, no rules were broken, that’s all,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
A Labor source later clarified that Durham police have not contacted Sir Keir about the matter recently because they have not reopened their investigation.
In recent days, Sir Keir has come under increased pressure over the event, in which he was caught on camera drinking beer with campaigners at local MP Mary Foy’s Durham constituency office in the run-up to the election. Hartlepool partials.
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‘We were working’
Last week, the Labor Party confirmed its deputy leader Angela Reyner he also attended, having previously told reporters that he was not present at the meeting.
But a party source said it was a “mistake made in good faith” and Lord Keir he has insisted that it “makes absolutely no difference” as no rules have been broken.
Asked about the matter on Monday, the Labor leader told reporters: “We were working. It was days before the elections. We took a break to eat something.
“There was no party, no rules were broken. There’s nothing I can add to that.”
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Durham Police investigated the incident in February and found no rules were broken, but a Conservative MP is urging they look into the matter again.
Adam Wagner, a lawyer and expert on COVID rules, said the only thing that would change the calculation is if it turns out that people who were not working on local elections attended.
The impression that information is being leaked has not been helpful to Sir Keir, or the fact that he did not say in an interview this morning whether he had been contacted again by the police. Since then, labor sources have said no.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, whose activists are fighting the Conservatives on battleground seats in the south of England in local elections this week, held back this morning. “I’m not being soft on anyone,” he said. “But he is the prime minister who was the first to break the law in the history of our country.”
An election expert, Lord Hayward, has said the focus on Beergate risks dissipating Partygate’s impact with voters.
Labor MPs are frustrated with the issue that keeps coming up and hope that before the election, where party blocking and the issue of honesty in politics is a key issue for them, this will be the end of it.
Asked if he would like to issue further clarification on what happened, the Labor leader continued: “There was no party, there was no rule breaking.
“This is days away from the election, I know what’s going on here: the Conservatives are desperately trying to talk about something other than the cost of living, throwing as much mud as possible.
“If they spent as much energy and as much focus on people’s bills and the tax that they’re hitting people for, then millions of people would be thankful for that.
“So I think this is classic two or three days before a Conservative election.
But I have nothing to add.
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Labor rejects comparison to Downing Street partygate
Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for North West Durham, has been lobbying the police to reconsider their decision not to investigate the event after the fine issued to Mr. Johnson for attending a birthday party at number 10.
But Labor has rejected that there is any equivalence with the downing street party scandalthat has shaken the government.
Durham Police confirmed they had received “a number of additional communications” to which they will respond, but said they are not currently investigating the matter.
The Metropolitan Police investigation into lockdown-breaking parties held in Downing Street and Whitehall is still ongoing.
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Last month, the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rishi Sunak and Mr. Johnson’s wife, Carrie Johnson, received notices of fixed fines for attending an event to mark the Prime Minister’s 56th birthday.
The prime minister, who has faced persistent calls to resign over partygate, is believed to have been at more than the 12 events Scotland Yard is investigating.
The Met Police said so will not issue any more partygate updates ahead of local elections in May.
Reference-news.sky.com