Police are investigating a gathering attended by Sir Keira Starmer and Labor deputy leader Angela Raynor for potential violations of Covid law.
Durham police said they had initially decided not to take any action over a rally in Labor constituency of Mary Foy in April 2021.
“At that time, it was concluded that no violation had been identified and therefore no further action would be taken,” a spokesman added.
“After receiving important new information in recent days, the police in Durham have reviewed this position and now, after the end of the pre-election period, we can confirm that an investigation into potential violations of Covid-19 regulations related to this collection is now underway. conducts. “
Following the announcement, Sir Keir insisted he was “certain that no rules have been broken”.
The Labor Party has been claiming for months that Covid’s laws were not violated at a rally where Sir Kear was portrayed drinking beer with colleagues during the Hartlepool by-elections.
A spokesman said: “Obviously we are happy to answer all the questions and we remain clear that there are no rules violated.
Non-essential retail and outdoor venues, including pub gardens, were opened during the alleged collection, but social distancing rules, which include a ban on indoor mixing between households, remained in place.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the Labor leader, saying the Durham incident was “very different from what we saw in the government”.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “The Labor Party has always been clear that there are no rules. It was a business event, he was in the middle of a local election campaign and eating food in an election campaign.
“I think it’s very different from what we saw in the government, where you had exactly the people who made the rules, the people who wanted the people to make great sacrifices all over the country – and we saw the evidence of the parties.”
Emily Thornbury, Labor’s shadow attorney general, said Durham police had been “under a lot of pressure” to investigate by Conservative MPs and right-wing newspapers.
“There are a lot of people campaigning for the police to start this investigation, a lot of Conservative MPs are asking about it, a lot of conservative newspapers are making a lot of noise about it,” she told Sky News.
Sir Keira Starmer speaks to Labor supporters in front of StoneX Stadium in Barnett (Jonathan Brady / Pennsylvania)
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The announcement of a new investigation is a blow to the Labor leader, who appears to have successfully dealt with the incident earlier this year. But the controversy resumed last week, on the eve of the local election, by Conservative MP Richard Holden, who wrote to Durham Chief of Staff Joe Farrell asking for an investigation.
Conservative newspapers began to cover the story, raising questions, including why the meal happened so late in the evening and whether Sir Kear and his team did return to work after that, probably not until 11 p.m.
Labor also stumbled when the party was forced to admit that despite previous denials, Ms Rayner was present.
The controversy has put the Labor leader on its hind legs in recent days as the party struggled in an election campaign that was expected to be dominated by the Partygate scandal.
Labor insists the incident cannot be compared to the many parties now known to have taken place on Downing Street while the Covid restrictions were in place. A dozen such events are being investigated by Sofia police, including a party marked as “bring your own alcohol.”
Conservative lawmakers believe Sir Kear may have made a tactical mistake in calling for the resignation of Chancellor Rishi Sunak after he and Boris Johnson received fines for attending Mr Johnson’s 10th birthday party in June 2020. d.
Following allegations of blocking by Dominic Cummings, who was the prime minister’s chief adviser at the time, Durham police said they had a policy against retrospectively imposing fines on Covid.
In May 2020, an investigation concluded that he may have committed a “minor breach” of the law by driving to Barnard Castle, but that issuing a flat-out penalty notice months later would mean treating Mr Cummings differently. from other members of the public ‘.
The forces added: “Durham police have not taken retrospective action against anyone else.”
Other police forces appear to have followed the same policy until metropolitan police made a U-turn to investigate a series of rallies held on Downing Street and in the Cabinet during various phases of Covid’s restrictions.
Scotland Yard said it had issued more than 50 fines by April 12, but did not provide a breakdown of who was fined, for which meetings or whether multiple fines were imposed on some individuals.
The forces refused to provide information about the ongoing investigation on the eve of the local elections and refused a request for updated data from The Independent on Friday.
The Durham police announcement came as Labor celebrated the success of the local election, with some Conservatives believing that their share of the vote had been affected by the Westminster Partygate scandal.
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