Beergate: UK Police Clears Labour Leaders of Lockdown Rule-Breach

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy leader Angela Rayner at the launch of of Labour's 2022 local election campaign at The Brown Cow, Burrs Country Park, Bury, Greater Manchester, England, on March 31, 2022. (Danny Lawson/PA)

The UK’s Labour leaders can continue in their jobs after the Durham police cleared them on Friday of breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules.

Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner previously vowed to step down as the Labour Party’s leader and deputy leader if they were fined by police over an office curry-and-beer dinner at the end of their working day in Durham on April 30, 2021.

The rules at the time—introduced by the Conservative government and passed Parliament with the support of Labour and other parties—stipulated that colleagues can “gather in larger groups or meet indoors where it is necessary for your work,” adding, “This does not include social gatherings with work colleagues.”

In a statement on Friday, Durham Police said no fines will be issued to the 17 participants and no further action will be taken.

“Following the application of the evidential Full Code Test, it has been concluded that there is no case to answer for a contravention of the regulations, due to the application of an exception, namely reasonably necessary work,” the statement reads.

Durham police said investigators received final evidence from the local constituency on Tuesday and concluded the investigation on Friday.

“The investigation has been thorough, detailed, and proportionate,” it said.

The force didn’t identify any individuals in line with established national policing guidelines.

Reacting to the outcome on Twitter, Starmer said he had “always said no rules were broken when I was in Durham.”

“The police have completed their investigation and agreed: there is no case to answer,” the former prosecutor, said. “For me, this was always a matter of principle. Honesty and integrity matter. You will always get that from me.”

Rayner also said they had “always been clear that no rules were broken,” before taking a more pointed jab at Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying: “Integrity matters in politics. The contrast with the behaviour of this disgraced prime minister couldn’t be clearer.”

‘Beergate’

Starmer and Rayner were visiting Labour MP Mary Foy’s office in Durham on April 30, 2021, during an election campaign, when Starmer was captured on video holding a beer near the window.

The image was published in The Sun the next day but didn’t get much attention until the following January amid a string of  “partygate” allegations that a number of rule-breaking gatherings occurred in the centre of the Conservative government.

Starmer said at the time that his team was “working in the office, and we stopped for a takeaway, and then we carried on working.

He said no restaurants or pubs were open and the hotel he and his colleagues were staying in did not serve food, so “if you didn’t get a takeaway then our team wasn’t eating that evening.”

Labour also said at the time that Rayner was not present at the event, but Starmer confirmed on May 1 that she was present, saying his party made a “genuine mistake.”

Durham police cleared Starmer in February, saying they didn’t believe any offence was committed, but confirmed on May 6 that it decided to reexamine the case “following the receipt of significant new information over recent days.”

The police did not reveal what the information was.

On May 7, The Daily Mail said it had obtained a pre-written “operational note” of the visit to Durham showing the curry dinner was planned in advance and that the only item after the dinner—scheduled between 20:40 and 22:00—was walking back to the hotel.

Having repeatedly called on the prime minister to resign over partygate allegations, Starmer and Rayner said on May 9 that they would “do the right thing and step down” if the police decided they broke the law.