Labour and Tory MPs from County Durham clashed at Parliament's terrace bar this week, as the row over Partygate intensified.
North West Durham Tory MP Richard Holden accused City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy of "berating and grabbing" him at the exclusive Stranger's bar for MPs in Westminster on Tuesday.
Following the incident Ms Foy apologised to Mr Holden, but a Labour source downplayed the extent of the disagreement.
READ MORE: Durham Police insists it is not investigating Keir Starmer over lockdown breach claims
A party source told ChronicleLive: "Mary and Richard were drinking together in a group, there was a bit of back and forth on politics generally.
"Mary and Richard were in touch afterwards and she offered an apology in good faith which Richard accepted."
In a statement published on social media this morning, Mr Holden said: "Mary has given me a wholehearted apology after, unprovoked, she drunkenly approached, berated and grabbed me on the terrace of Parliament on Tuesday evening in front of other MPs and members of staff.
"I accept her apology and consider the matter closed."
The row came after Mr Holden urged Durham Police to reopen a probe into Sir Keir Starmer’s behaviour during lockdown last year.
Sir Keir was videoed in an MP’s constituency office in Durham on April 30, drinking from a bottle of beer during a by-election campaign.
While insisting it has not reopened its investigation, Durham Police told Mr Holden it will “consider” his plea and respond in due course.
A Labour spokeswoman said: “Keir Starmer was in the workplace, meeting a local MP in her constituency office.
“They paused for food as the meeting was during the evening. No rules were broken.”
Following Mr Holden's appeal to the police, his own actions during that period have come under scrutiny.
It emerged that Mr Holden, during the same period as Sir Keir's campaign event, had a curry with other MPs on a visit to Gurkhas in Kent.
Posting about the trip on his Facebook page, Mr Holden said: "It was particularly great to meet the young Gurkha soldiers and to chat with them properly over lunch in their mess and to find out more about them and their families back in Nepal.”
Mr Holden said there was no comparison between his event and Sir Keir's and branded any attempt to link the two as a "smear".
