Beergate: Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner not fined after police say no Covid laws broken

Police found a Labour gathering in Durham was not against Covid laws because it was ‘reasonably necessary for work’

Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner did not break Covid laws and will not be fined over Beergate, Durham Police have announced.

A spokesperson added: “There is no case to answer for a contravention of the regulations, due to the application of an exception, namely reasonably necessary work.”

Police said the gathering at the Miners’ Hall in Durham on 30 April 2020, which was linked to part of Labour campaigning for the Hartlepool by-election and local elections, had been fully investigated.

Evidence and witness statements identified that 17 people participated, including the Labour leader and deputy leader.

“Durham Constabulary will not be issuing any fixed penalty notices in respect of the gathering and no further action will be taken,” a statement said.

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

Sir Keir, the former director of public prosecutions, had vowed to resign if he was found to have broken Covid laws – having urged Boris Johnson to leave his post after being fined over an illegal Downing Street gathering.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the Labour leader said: “I’ve 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.

“For me, this was always a matter of principle. Honesty and integrity matter. You will always get that from me.”

Ms Rayner tweeted: “Integrity matters in politics. The contrast with the behaviour of this disgraced prime minister couldn't be clearer.”

Durham Constabulary previously investigated Dominic Cummings, then the prime minister’s chief adviser, for taking his family from London to the northeast while infected with coronavirus during the first national lockdown.

Officers concluded that he might have committed a “minor breach” of the law by driving to Barnard Castle, but that issuing a fine months later “would amount to treating Mr Cummings differently from other members of the public”.

The force initially decided to take no action over images of Sir Keir drinking a beer inside the constituency office of Labour MP Mary Foy, which resurfaced while being widely shared by Conservatives during the Partygate scandal.

‘No case to answer’: Starmer and Rayner (PA)

Ms Foy, the MP for the City of Durham, said she was “delighted” by Durham Police's findings and spoke of the “pressure of the last few months”.

“It is unfortunate that the desire of some Conservative politicians to score political points has led to so much of Durham Police's time being focused on a matter that was already investigated, especially when their resources are already under significant pressure,” she added.

“I am enormously appreciative for the understanding my staff and their families have shown in the face of significant intrusion from the right-wing media, including their children and parents being doorstepped.”

At the time, “step two” Covid laws were in force, which made gatherings of more than two people indoors illegal unless they were subject to one of numerous exemptions, which included being “reasonably necessary for work purposes”.

The same exemption was in force for several gatherings investigated as part of Partygate , which saw 126 fines issued for Covid breaches on eight separate dates by the Metropolitan Police.

It is believed to have been used by the prime minister as a defence for his attendance at several gatherings that he was not fined for.