A resignation by Sir Keir Starmer would not mean the Prime Minister should do the same, according to a Government minister, after the Labour leader said he would step down if he is fined by police over alleged lockdown rule-breaking.
Sir Keir said he would do the “right thing” if he was issued with a fixed penalty notice in relation to a gathering in Labour offices in Durham in April last year.
The move has been viewed as a huge gamble, with Sir Keir placing his future in the hands of Durham Police after it was announced last week officers would reopen an investigation into the event where he drank beer and ate curry.
The Labour party has sought to contrast Sir Keir’s actions with those of Boris Johnson, who has refused to quit after being fined by the Met Police over a gathering in No 10 in June 2020 to mark his 56th birthday.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse said a resignation by Sir Keir would not mean Boris Johnson should also step down.
When it was suggested to him that if the Labour leader is fined and does resign, it would mean Mr Johnson should follow suit, he told LBC: “Not necessarily, no.”
Mr Malthouse added: “Obviously in any situation where, you know, the rules were moving around, there were misunderstandings or mistakes were made, and apologies are made and they are accepted, then people of all walks of life should be able to keep their jobs.
“But Keir Starmer has to speak for himself and set his own standards.”
Asked if the Labour leader is right to say he would step down, Mr Malthouse later told GB News: “That’s a matter for him. Look, my view is that this was a very difficult situation with complicated rules that were often changing quite quickly.
“Mistakes were made and they’re acknowledged and fixed penalty notices are paid.
“I don’t see why anybody, be they so high or so humble, should lose their job.”
Meanwhile, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said Sir Keir is “a man of integrity and a man of decency, unlike the Prime Minister who has been found to have broken the law and still clings on at Number 10”.
She told Sky News: “We maintain that nothing was done that was inconsistent with the rules.
“He was there working. He had some food as part of that working day. That really is it.”
Ms Phillipson said you are “allowed to eat” as part of a working day.
“I think the contrast between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer is there for everyone to see.
“In Keir Starmer, someone who takes his responsibilities seriously, who believes in the importance of integrity and honesty.
“And Boris Johnson? I don’t think you would say that he’s a man of integrity or a man of honesty,” she said.
Labour sources are confident they can prove the Durham event was a work event and that those present were taking a break to eat while working late on preparations for the Hartlepool by-election.
The party has compiled time-stamped logs from WhatsApp chats, documents and video edits, showing they carried on working after the takeaway was delivered – continuing to 1am, The Guardian reported.
A party source said: “We have been totally clear that no rules were broken. We will provide documentary evidence that people were working before and after stopping to have food.”
Having repeatedly called for Mr Johnson to go for breaking the law, many at Westminster believed Sir Keir would have no choice but to fall on his sword if he was found to have done so himself.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner – who was also present – has said she too would stand down if she is fined.
One Government minister however accused Sir Keir of “attempting to pressure the police into clearing him” by making clear a fine would spell the end of his leadership.
Tech minister Chris Philp said the Labour leader’s statement was “deeply inappropriate”.
Former director of public prosecutions Lord Ken Macdonald has said suggestions that Durham Police will be pressured in their investigation of Sir Keir were “wide of the mark”.
The crossbench peer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that’s wide of the mark, actually.
“My experience of working with the police in very sensitive cases under full glare of public and press interest was that, very quickly, you find your focus taking over and, in a sense, a sort of bloody-mindedness creeps in: ‘This is my case and I’ll decided it, thank you very much, without any help from you.’
“So, that sort of pressure actually becomes, in my experience, reinforcing of independence, which I’m sure is what we want.
“I don’t think Durham Police will be troubled at all by that sort of aspect.”
