Keir Starmer broke Covid rules at curry bash as he was ‘just socialising’, witness claims

A WITNESS to Sir Keir Starmer’s curry bash has sunk the Labour leader’s alibi.

The source will tell police the gathering broke Covid rules as Labour MP Mary Foy and about 12 staff were “just socialising” with Sir Keir and his deputy Angela Rayner.

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Sir Keir claims that after a day’s campaigning at the Hartlepool by- election he returned to work at night after eating the takeaway curry and downing a beer. But the source said: “They were just getting p***ed. It was a jolly.

“They just thought it was pretty cool to hang out with the leader and deputy leader of the Labour Party.

“I wouldn’t say they were hammered but they were definitely a bit tipsy by the end.”

The witness, who said they were willing to give a statement to police, added: “It’s not something that I am prepared to defend.

“It’s akin to the Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak being ‘ambushed’ by a birthday cake in No.10’s garden.”

Meanwhile, a memo drawn up days before the visit to Durham reveals that the “social” gathering had been planned in advance.

Sir Keir Starmer did a runner today as he began to feel the heat from the police probing his Currygate party.

The Labour leader dashed away quickly when reporters asked if he would heed the advice he gave to Boris Johnson — and resign.

Senior party sources revealed their high command is in a state of panic — and close colleagues fear it could cost him his job.
A Labour insider said: “They’re s*****ng themselves.

“He’s told people he will have to go if he’s fined.

“I don’t think there will be much dissent from the Parliamentary Labour Party on that, so long as Angela Rayner is fined too.

“He’s put his fate in the hands of the police and lawyers now.”

One member of his shadow team admitted: “There’s still a fair old chance of Keir being done.

“If he gets a fine, he is in the s**t.

“It will mean that he cannot moralise in the run-up to the next General Election.

“He will have nowhere to go and will have to resign.”

Former chief prosecutor Sir Keir has run a five-month campaign calling for the PM to quit after police launched an inquiry into allegations of lockdown-busting events in No10.

But he has been forced to swallow his own medicine after Durham Police launched an inquiry into a Labour event in April 2021 — which The Sun on Sunday revealed on May 2 last year.

Sir Keir was pictured enjoying a beer in a constituency office in Durham following a day on the campaign trail.

Then-Tory chairwoman Amanda Milling said it was “now in question” whether the Labour leader followed the rules himself.

A Labour source said the accusation was “pathetic”.

Sir Keir has insisted he did not believe the event breached Covid rules.

In a time-bomb tweet about Mr Johnson that could come back to haunt him, he remarked: “Honesty and decency matter. He needs to do the decent thing and resign.”

The police inquiry into Currygate is expected to last up to six weeks, which will make it difficult for Sir Keir to attack the PM over any fines or reports emerging from the No10 gatherings in the meantime.

Labour veteran Diane Abbott admitted that Sir Keir would be in a tight spot if he lands a fixed-penalty notice.

The former Shadow Home Secretary dismissed the probe as “a lot of hype” but added: “If he gets a fixed penalty notice, he really has to consider his position. I don’t think he will.”

Another senior Labour MP said: “He will have to judge for himself whether to resign if fined, but the biggest issue is one of trust.

“It doesn’t look good for a politician to call for the Prime Minister to resign over an offence and then refuse to go when you get caught out yourself.”

Last night, Tories scented blood, branding him a hypocrite.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “I do think that the public will be uncomfortable with the hypocrisy.

“He has tweeted that if you’re under a criminal investigation, you should resign.”

Blackpool South Tory MP Scott Benton said: “The lack of Labour MPs coming forward to defend him tells its own story.”

Sir Keir’s allies insisted he would be cleared by police and there was a sharp contrast between him and the Prime Minister.

Durham Police U-turned on an earlier decision that no offence had been committed after receiving “significant new information”.

A key factor was confirmation that deputy leader Angela Rayner was present, which Labour had initially denied.