Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner have been cleared of any wrongdoing by Durham Police over ‘Beergate’.
‘Beergate’ refers to an event which took place on April 30, 2021, at the constituency office of Labour MP for the City of Durham, Mary Foy.
At the event, Sir Keir was photographed drinking beer indoors with colleagues, after working on the campaign trail in the lead-up to the Hartlepool by-election. His deputy was also present at the gathering.
At the time, social distancing rules which banned individuals from different households from mixing indoors were in place, with some exemptions for work purposes.
Labour argued that the indoor socialising, eating and drinking occurred between work, which made the gathering legal.
Durham Police have now upheld that claim and confirmed that there is “no case to answer” given that the event fell within exemptions for “reasonably necessary” work purposes.
A spokesperson for the Labour party commented: “Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have always been clear that no rules were broken in Durham.
“The police have completed their investigation and have agreed, saying that there is no case to answer."
The Labour leader and deputy leader both said that they would stand down from their positions if the police adjudged them to have broken the rules and issued them with a fine.
Sir Keir said that such a stance was “always a matter of principle” and told reporters that “honesty and integrity matter.”
Rayner added: “Integrity matters in politics. The contrast with the behaviour of this disgraced prime minister (Boris Johnson) couldn't be clearer.”
The prime minister and his chancellor at the time, Rishi Sunak, were fined earlier this year for what the police deemed as Covid rule-breaking when a brief birthday gathering was held for the prime minister in the cabinet room during lockdown in June 2020.
Prior to the PM and chancellor being fined, Durham Police had already been made aware of Sir Keir and Rayner’s indoor socialising in Durham, but the force decided not to investigate further.
After the duo received their fines, the Conservative MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden, wrote to Durham Police asking them to reconsider their stance and look into the matter further following the Metropolitan Police’s interpretation of what had happened in Downing Street.
Durham Police subsequently launched an investigation into the event in May after “significant new information” had come to light, but Labour's top duo have now been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The names of others who were present at the gathering in Mary Foy’s office will not be publicly disclosed by the police.
The full statement issued by Durham Police closing the matter reads:
"Following the emergence of significant new information, an investigation was launched by Durham Constabulary into a gathering at the Miners’ Hall, in Redhills, Durham on April 30, 2021. That investigation has now concluded.
"A substantial amount of documentary and witness evidence was obtained which identified the 17 participants and their activities during that gathering.
"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.
"Accordingly, Durham Constabulary will not be issuing any fixed penalty notices in respect of the gathering and no further action will be taken.
"The investigation has been thorough, detailed and proportionate. The final evidence supplied by participants from the local constituency was returned to Durham Police on July 5 and analysed by investigators against all the evidence before the investigation was concluded on July 8, 2022.
"In line with established national policing guidelines, we will not name or otherwise identify any of those present at the gathering, all of whom have been informed of the investigation outcome by their legal representatives."
