Nicola Sturgeon has said Tory attacks on Keir Starmer over the so-called “beergate” event are part of a “massive operation” to divert attention away from Boris Johnson’s “serial breaching” of lockdown rules.
The First Minister spoke out in defence of the Labour leader on Monday as he was reported to consider announcing he will resign as Labour leader if he is found guilty of breaching Covid rules.
According to The Times newspaper, Starmer is being encouraged by close colleagues to adopt the strategy to heap pressure on Boris Johnson, who Starmer has called on to quit after he was issued with a fixed penalty notice for attending a birthday party in the Cabinet Office in June, 2020.
Starmer had been due to take part in an Institute for Government briefing on Monday , with a speech and question and answer session – though Labour insisted he was not “ducking scrutiny” by no longer taking part.
After pressure from Conservative MPs Durham police are re-investigating whether a beer-and-curry supper in Durham last year, while Starmer was campaigning in a by-election, breached lockdown rules.
Sturgeon said with a police investigation underway it “would be wrong for me to comment in any more detail”.
She stated: “Let’s let’s wait and see what comes of this.”
But the SNP leader added: “What I do think is pretty obvious is that there is a massive operation underway on the part of the Conservatives to divert attention from Boris Johnson."
“And not just Boris Johnson’s single breaking of the rules, but what appears to have been a serial breaching of the rules and, of course, Boris Johnson’s inability to be straight with the House of Commons.”
Johnson, his wife, Carrie Johnson, and the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have all been fined by the Metropolitan Police as a result of their attendance at a party in Westminster which is deemed to have broken lockdown rules.
Labour insists the food was consumed between work events during their leader's visit to Durham last April, meaning it was within the rules despite the ban on indoor socialising.
Speaking during a visit to Scotland on Saturday, Starmer said he was “confident” he had not broken the rules, imposed to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
He said then “As I have explained a number of times, I was working in the office, we stopped for something to eat.
“There was no party, no breach of rules, I am confident of that.”
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