Starmer ‘rule breach’ looks like Tory mud-slinging ahead of local vote
Keir and the beer: but isn’t the real question what the person who took the image thought they were doing? VoyeurGate, anybody?
Did Keir Starmer have a bottle of beer in a Durham MP’s constituency office last year?
Yes.
Was it against the rules at the time?
Probably not. There isn’t really enough information to be sure.
Skwawkbox has provided a handy list of the rules here – and that site considers Starmer to have broken the rules.
But the BBC takes a more nuanced view.
Labour itself says Starmer was at the office of City of Durham MP Mary Foy for an online event ahead of the Hartlepool by-election – a neighbouring constituency. As pubs were closed, getting take-out food was the logical course of action.
Rules in force at the time said people should work from home if they could. It could be argued that this was an occasion in which working from home was not possible – and there was an exemption for “work purposes”. There were no specific rules for meals at work events or for socialising at them.
Durham police have investigated and said they were satisfied that no rules were broken.
That wasn’t enough for North West Durham Tory MP Richard Holden. He argued that “this location was not the usual workplace” of Sir Keir, and there was “no necessity” for him to attend the event.
Really? If it was billed as an online rally with Keir Starmer and Mary Foy, then it was probably reasonable for him to attend, and if it was organised by Ms Foy’s constituency party, then it was probably reasonable for him to attend it there.
And now there’s a question about Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner attending – which, again, is probably neither here nor there, considering the restrictions described above.
So on balance, This Site tends to agree (for possibly the first time!) with Starmer: “We’re a few days away from local elections, and Conservative MPs are trying to throw as much mud as possible.”
There isn’t any correspondence with the so-called Partygate scandal because the Downing Street gatherings were social events. Boris Johnson was fined for attending a party, not a work event.
So this issue is nothing more than a distraction – and a shot in the foot for the Tories.
That’s because, by concentrating on alleged lockdown rule-breaking, the Tories are focusing attention on their own wrongdoing more than anybody else’s. Their prime minister has been caught breaking those rules; Starmer is only accused.
And the simple there are far worse failings in Keir Starmer’s Labour Party that the Tories could be exploiting.
What surprises This Writer is that either party is anywhere at all in the polls. Other political organisations should be walking all over them while they squabble about this.
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Although I agree with your conclusions, I did not think our illustrious leader was a bottle of beer type.
It was probably all he could get on take-out.
Zelo Street provides a more nuanced view too. I normally agree with sqwarkbox but not here. And like you, I support starmer for once.
https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2022/04/covid-rule-misinformation-busted.html?m=1
Yes me too, I was actually quite disgusted at some of the comments on SB about Angela Rayner. One person who does post some interesting stuff usually, called her a ‘good time girl’ and there were a few other snide comments. I dislike Starmer intensely – and left the LP because of him – and have been very disappointed with Rayner, but come on, the timing says it all. Thank you for that link.