Keir Starmer bats away question over whether he broke Covid rules with voice coach

Keir Starmer insisted he stuck to Covid rules at all times after a book on Labour’s return to power said he met with a voice coach on Christmas Eve in 2020

Keir Starmer has batted away questions over whether he broke Covid lockdown rules.

The PM said “of course” he did not breach restrictions as Tories try to turn coronavirus rulebreaking into an issue again. The PM met with a voice coach on Christmas Eve, 2020, a new book on Labour’s return to power says.

In excerpts of Get In, which is being serialised by The Sunday Times, the coach, Leonie Mellinger, is described as having qualified for “key worker” status. But former Tory chairman Richard Holden has seized on it, writing to Mr Starmer questioning whether rules were stuck to.

A previous attempt to accuse the Labour leader of disobeying Covid restrictions cost taxpayers over £100,000. At the end of a press conference in Brussels, the PM faced shouted questions over whether he had flouted rules put in place by Boris Johnson – who was himself fined for breaking them.

Asked if he had breached rules he responded: “Of course not.” He went on to say “all the rules were followed at all times”.

Mr Holden, who was Tory chairman during the party’s disastrous general election campaign, has written to the PM insisting he has “serious questions” to answer. No10 said it could not comment as it happened before Mr Starmer entered No10.

Asked if Sir Keir considered the voice coach to be a key worker, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I’m not going to get into any matter to do with opposition. The Prime Minister is focused on delivering on the Government’s priorities and the people’s priorities.”

Asked if he still used a voice coach, the spokesman said: “Not that I’m aware of.” Catherine McKinnell, the minister for school standards, suggested the revelation “contrasts quite sharply” with Covid-era parties in CCHQ and Downing Street.

“As far as I’m aware there were no Covid rules broken,” she told Times Radio. “People were able to go to work and undertake really important roles and that was clearly a very important moment in Britain where an important public statement had to be made.”

It is not the first time Tories have agitated for a probe into Mr Starmer and Covid rules. The ‘Beergate’ investigation into Keir Starmer cost taxpayers £101,000 – and used nine major crime detectives.

Durham Police held a two-month probe into whether Labour ’s leader broke lockdown rules – opened after a Tory MP and newspapers repeatedly urged it to do so.

The price tag is much smaller than £460,000 the Met Police spent investigating lockdown breaches in Downing Street and Whitehall. But unlike the Scotland Yard probe, which dished out 126 fines including one to Boris Johnson, Durham Police did not issue a single fine.

The force said there was “no case to answer” for the beer and meal Labour’s leader shared with party activists. Indoor meet-ups were banned during the third lockdown in April 2021 – but Durham Police ruled Keir Starmer’s case was “reasonably necessary work”.