Sir Keir Starmer never misses a chance to denounce the Government for its sins, real or perceived. On multiple occasions, he called for the Prime Minister to resign over the partygate saga. He demanded that Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, do the same after he was fined by the Metropolitan Police for breaching lockdown rules. Sir Keir’s moralising over the issue even reportedly caused disquiet among members of his shadow Cabinet. They worried that it was preventing Labour from talking about issues of more immediate concern to voters.
Now, Sir Keir has himself become embroiled in allegations of coronavirus rule-breaking. The Labour leader was filmed drinking beer with colleagues in the Durham office of MP Mary Foy last year. He has repeatedly dismissed the story, maintaining that it was a meal break during a work event and therefore not in breach of the rules.
First, however, Labour had to admit that Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, was also present at the event. Then it emerged that a large quantity of food had been ordered from a nearby takeaway and that as many as 30 people may have been there. Yesterday, Durham Constabulary announced that it had decided to investigate the gathering. The force had previously opted against an investigation, but it reviewed the decision “following the receipt of significant new information”.
This is a serious matter for the Labour leader. It is true that the police are only investigating one event, while the Met’s inquiry is into multiple alleged breaches at Downing Street. As leader of the opposition, he was also not directly responsible for writing the rules that he is accused of breaking.
Nevertheless, he gave ironclad support to the Government’s restrictions, and on occasion even insisted that ministers should go further. Moreover, it is irrelevant that he is unlikely to receive a fine, because of Durham’s policy not to impose them for coronavirus rule-breaking retrospectively. The Labour leader seemed to consider merely the fact that Boris Johnson was under investigation by the Metropolitan Police to be sufficient cause for him to be removed from office.
Sir Keir has sought to make political capital out of the Prime Minister’s discomfort, evidently believing that he could contrast his own reputation for being sober and serious-minded with Mr Johnson’s more liberal approach to life. Now, he has boxed himself into a corner, one in which almost every one of his political attacks on his rivals can be turned against him. Surely, by his own logic, he has little choice but to resign.
