Labor is confident they can show Sir Keir Starmer did not break lockdown rules after he pledged to offer his resignation if notified of a fixed penalty by police.
Lord Keir has been under pressure for an event in Durham in April 2021 with party colleagues when they filmed him having a drink and ordered a curry to go.
In a dramatic statement on Monday, the Labor leader Said he’d do the “right thing” if you are fined for failing to comply COVID-19 rules.
The move puts his future in the hands of Durham Police after it was announced last week that officers would reopen an investigation into the event.
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However, Labor sources believe they have evidence that it was a labor event and that those present were taking a lunch break while working late in preparation for the Hartlepool by-election.
A report in The Guardian newspaper indicated that the party has compiled time-stamped records of message chats, documents and video edits showing they continued to work until 1am, long after the takeaway was delivered.
He added that detectives investigating the alleged breach of lockdown rules are considering interviewing the Labor leader face-to-face.
“We have been absolutely clear that no rules were broken. We will provide documentary evidence that people were working before and after stopping to eat,” a Labor source told The Guardian.
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Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he will do “the right thing and resign” if police issue a fixed penalty notice.
‘No law was broken’
Speaking on Monday, Sir Keir, who has been a fierce critic of the one with boris johnson breaking the rules at Downing Street, he said he was “absolutely clear that no law was broken” in his case.
But he added: “If the police decide to issue me a fixed penalty notice, of course I would do the right thing and resign.”
Pressed on whether he would resign if it is found that there was a breach of the rules, but he is not fined, Sir Keir said he had not broken the rules, adding: “The penalty for a COVID breach is fixed – notice of penalty, that’s a matter of law, and I’ve established where I stand on that.”
Labor Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, who was also at the event, also said no rules were broken and made a similar promise that she would resign if fined.
At the time, COVID rules prohibited indoor domestic mixing, aside from work.
Over the weekend, a leaked memo obtained by the Mail on Sunday revealed that the meal was pre-plannedin contrast to the Labor Party’s earlier claim that it was an overnight decision as “nowhere was food served”.
On Monday, Sir Keir withdrew from an event planned by a think tank due to mounting pressure.
But at a hastily arranged news conference later that day, the Labor leader agreed to face reporters to answer growing questions about how he might respond if he is found to have broken the law.
‘I believe in honour,’ says Starmer
In a statement, he sought to draw a distinction between his position and that of Johnson, who has already received a fixed penalty notice following a Metropolitan Police investigation into alleged lockdown breaches at Downing Street and Whitehall in 2020 and 2021.
That investigation, in which more than 50 fines have already been announced, continues.
Sir Keir said: “I believe in honour, integrity and the principle that those who make the laws should follow them.
“I think politicians who undermine that principle undermine trust in politics, they undermine democracy, they undermine Britain.
“I am absolutely clear that no laws were broken, they were complied with at all times.
“I just had a bite to eat while working late into the night, like any politician would do days before the election.
“The Prime Minister has chosen not to resign, even though, not only has he broken the law he made, but he has been given 50 fines in relation to the workplace for which he is responsible.
“That is his choice. But it is very important that the public does not think that all politicians are the same and that is why I have established my position in terms of honor and integrity.”
Analysis by Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
It had already been called “Balti-matum prawn”. But Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to resign if fined for beer-gate seems like a desperate gamble.
After being locked in a korma for days, the Labor leader certainly came out to fight. But he seemed tense and his nine-minute statement was clearly rehearsed.
Now we know why he walked out of a speech to policy experts at the Institute of Government and rudely, his critics would say, missed the memorial service for former Tory minister James Brokenshire.
His statement was obviously an attempt to set the record straight. But even his most loyal followers would say it was a statement he should have made weeks ago.
Angela Rayner, whom Labor initially denied being present at the “beergate” curry, later said she too would resign if fined. I bet she’s thrilled to be dragged back into the Starmer drama.
As he clung to the lectern during his monologue at Labor headquarters, there was a change of tone from Sir Keir’s earlier complacent and misleading statements on the “beergate” accusations.
The accusation against the Labor leader by his political opponents has been one of sanctimonious hypocrisy. And he may be an experienced lawyer, but he forgot the cast-iron rule of politics: It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.
After his protests of innocence and pleas about “honesty” and “integrity”, Sky’s tenacious political editor, Beth Rigby, asked him the key question as he tried to escape.
What would Sir Keir do if the Durham police ruled that he broke the rules but was not fined? Beth asked. Remember, the force said it wouldn’t fine Dominic Cummings for his “view” trip to Barnard Castle because he doesn’t fine people retrospectively.
Sir Keir’s response: He will only resign if fined, a response that will not satisfy his critics and could bring tears to his pilau for weeks and months to come.
Speaking on Sky News on Tuesday, Police Minister Kit Malthouse said Durham Police will adhere to “high standards” regardless of any alleged pressure on them as they investigate the Labor leader.
“Durham Police will operate professionally to the high standards we expect of them, regardless of what happens around this case,” he said.
“We need to give them the space and time to do their job.”
The COVID-19 campaign group Bereaved Families for Justice UK, which has criticized the government’s pandemic policies, tweeted: “This is the right decision by Keir Starmer and in contrast to Boris Johnson, he shows integrity, decency and respect for the mourners.”
Reference-news.sky.com