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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Vikram Dodd and Jessica Elgot

Former police chief condemns pressure to investigate Keir Starmer’s office beer

Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer said: ‘We were very careful to abide by the rules.’ Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Durham’s former police chief has condemned attempts to get his former force to investigate Keir Starmer over allegations of Covid rule-breaking as “hypocritical” and “dangerous” and said there is no evidence the Labour leader flouted the law.

Michael Barton, chief constable of Durham until 2019, said the pressure on police to investigate was politically motivated. In his time in charge, Durham was rated as one of the best-performing police forces.

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