Beergate

Beergate is the political controversy which developed in 2022 following allegations that, on 30 April 2021, UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, deputy leader Angela Rayner and fifteen Labour Party members breached COVID-19 social distancing rules, when in a Labour Party office in Durham during the campaign before the 2021 Hartlepool by-election and local elections. A student took a short video around 10 pm, looking through the window of the office. It showed Starmer with beer, and others eating. The Sun on Sunday covered the story, including photographs, Labour said they complied with the rules for work gatherings, and that the meal was permissible as being reasonably necessary for work.

The allegations developed in January 2022 during the Partygate controversy, when the Conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson said he had attended a social drinks event, and Starmer asked him to step down. The Daily Mail brought up the Durham event involving Starmer. Following allegations that the meal there was a social gathering, Durham Constabulary reviewed the video, and on 7 February said no action was warranted.

On 12 April, after Johnson was given a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for breaching the regulations, Starmer again called on him to resign. On 6 May, after pressure from media and government ministers, Durham Constabulary said that as new evidence had emerged, they were beginning an investigation, expected to take six weeks. Conservative politicians and media accused Starmer of hypocrisy. On 9 May, Starmer and Rayner said they would resign if issued with FPNs. Conservatives said this could place "undue pressure" on the police to clear Starmer and Rayner.

Covid regulations and Partygate

As the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom worsened, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson brought in regulations from 23 March 2020 imposing a UK-wide lockdown. This prohibited all non-essential travel and gatherings of two or more people indoors, with an exception that a gathering was allowed if it "was reasonably necessary" for work purposes, and it was not feasible to work from home. Guidelines said only "absolutely necessary participants should attend meetings and should maintain 2m separation throughout", and workers were to "reduce the number of people you spend time with in a work setting". The rules were changed several times, and were eased on 12 April 2021 with new regulations still prohibiting socialising indoors with people from other households, and recommending working from home. Again, "work purposes" had an exemption, "Exception 3: gatherings necessary for certain purposes" included gatherings reasonably necessary "for work purposes or for the provision of voluntary or charitable services", in place during the "Beergate" event.

Allegations that parties and social events had taken place in the Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street from May 2020, at the time of strictest rules, were published in December 2021. The developing political scandal was dubbed Partygate. Johnson arranged a Cabinet Office inquiry under Sue Gray. After widespread reporting about alleged breaches, the Metropolitan Police announced on 11 January 2022 that it was in contact with the government about these reports. At Prime Minister's Questions on 12 January Johnson apologised for briefly attending a "bring your own boooze" gathering of 40 people in the Downing Street garden on 20 May 2020, but said he "believed implicitly that this was a work event" which "could be said technically to fall within the guidance." In reply, Starmer accused him of "putting forward a series of ridiculous denials which he knows are untrue – a clear breach of the ministerial code" which says "ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation. The party’s over, Prime Minister. The only question is will the British public kick him out, will his party kick him out or will he do the decent thing and resign?" Johnson said Starmer should not "pre-empt the outcome of the inquiry" by Sue Gray. On 25 January, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said it would not normally look into rule breaches dating back two years, but the police would now investigate allegations that "appeared to be the most serious and flagrant breach" of regulations. On 12 April both Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were issued with FPNs, but refused to resign.

Event

Durham Miners Hall, where Starmer and colleagues were working

As part of campaigning in the run-up to the 6 May 2021 Hartlepool by-election and local elections, on 30 April 2021 a Labour Party campaign team of at least fifteen people, including Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition, Deputy leader Angela Rayner, and local MP Mary Foy, made use of Foy's office premises which form part of the Durham Miners Hall. They used WhatsApp groups for discussions including others, including a WhatsApp group set up for the visit. According to Labour sources and time-stamped documentation, their work included filming Starmer, which continued up to 9:07 pm, and Starmer was given briefing papers for a visit the next day. They edited a message for International Workers' Day and prepared a script for Starmer's visit to Liberty Steel in Hartlepool. Work continued through the evening, and an aide sent the final edit at 1:56 am., but this may have been after returning to their hotel.

As a scheduled political event to visit the local campaigners and the local MP, planning included a meal break, to occur between 8.40 pm and 10 pm, and featured a takeaway curry. "All restaurants and pubs were closed so takeaways were really the only way you could eat", according to Starmer, "So this was brought in and at various points people went through to the kitchen, got a plate and had something to eat." At around 10 pm the takeaway order of Indian food and beers was delivered to a kitchen which forms part of the office. Starmer has stated that he "simply had something to eat whilst working late in the evening, as any politician would do days before an election."

By then, restrictions had been eased to "step two" rules. Indoor socialising was still banned, there was an exception for events which were "reasonably necessary" for work purposes, and an exemption if "the gathering is reasonably necessary for the purposes of campaigning in an election". Restaurants were only permitted to serve food outdoors for groups of up to six people or up to two households, and indoor service was not allowed. In addition to the regulation requirements, the government had issued guidelines. The guidance for election campaigning at the time said: "You should not meet with other campaigners indoors."

A 34-second video was filmed through the office window late that evening, of Starmer and some of the group, drinking beer and eating. The footage was taken by a student at Durham University, who a year later said he had seen "something that I thought was an injustice and decided to film it because it made me angry".

Media coverage and responses

The student's video was initially forwarded to friends, and then to anti-lockdown activists including Laurence Fox who uploaded it to his Twitter account. The Sun on Sunday published a story with pictures from the video online on the evening of 1 May 2021, and in the print edition the next day on page 2, as is usual for stories not expected to gain wide readership; it was ignored by media for the rest of the year. Labour has consistently said that the lockdown rules at that time allowed indoor gatherings for "work purposes" and such eating and drinking was allowed if "reasonably necessary for work".

In December 2021 Partygate allegations put the government under pressure, and on 12 January at Prime Minister's Questions Johnson said he had attended a drinks party in the 10 Downing Street garden but said he believed it was a work event which "could be said to technically fall within the guidance". In reply, Starmer accused Johnson of "months of deceit" breaching the ministerial code, which says ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament are expected to offer their resignation, and asked if Johnson would "do the decent thing and resign". For its 15 January front page, the Daily Mail used pictures from the video under its headline "Starmer the Covid party hypocrite".

On 25 January 2022, when the Metropolitan Police announced its investigation into Downing Street parties, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said Johnson "should finally do the decent thing and resign." On 31 January Starmer tweeted "Honesty and decency matter. After months of denials the prime minister is now under criminal investigations for breaking his own lockdown laws. He needs to do the decent thing and resign."

Calls for police investigation

Durham Constabulary said on 7 February 2022 that they had reviewed the video, and would take no action as they did "not believe an offence has been established in relation to the legislation and guidance in place at that time". On 12 April, the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were both issued with FPNs over Partygate. Starmer said "Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have broken the law and repeatedly lied to the British public. They must both resign."

Conservative MP Richard Holden wrote to Durham Constabulary on 22 April saying there was a "concerning new piece of evidence" online showing the local Labour Party had invited people to a "Quiz and Social in-person event" on the night in question "at the location where Keir Starmer was filmed socialising and drinking beer". He alleged that Foy, the constiuency MP, had left a Facebook message on the event page which "encouraged attendees to have a 'greasy night', which Urban Dictionary defines as an evening which involves 'drinking too much'." A report by i said the quiz was on Zoom, not "in-person", and did not involve Starmer. On Urban Dictionary, which shows user-generated definitions with only volunteer quality control, the nearest was "greasy night out" defined in 2006 as involving "spending too much money, drinking too much, doing too many drugs, hanging out with dregs of society people", and a tweet at the time suggested that Foy had simply mistyped "have a great night". Labour said that the quiz was on Zoom, and Starmer had nothing to do with it.

Durham Constabulary said they would look at Holden's request. Labour had said that Rayner was not present, but on 30 April 2022 the Daily Mail said Labour acknowledged she had been there, and their initial statement had been a mistake. Starmer said to reporters "Whether Angela Rayner was there or not makes absolutely no difference. There was no breach of the rules, the matter's already been looked into" and, shortly before local elections, "Conservative MPs are trying to throw as much mud as possible". He contrasted this with over 50 FPNs already issued to Downing Street. BBC News later said she was present at the meal. Labour's explanation was disputed on 1 May by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries who tweeted "No reasonable person believes Labours story, so why do Durham police and what were they told?". She also retweeted a Daily Mail story, a story which included a stock photo of Starmer eating curry. John Nicolson, an SNP MP, characterised the photo in the Daily Mail as "disinformation" because Frank Dobson, who died in 2019, was at the event it was taken at. Dorries ignored calls to take it down.

On 4 May 2022 Starmer was interviewed on Good Morning Britain by Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid. Starmer said that a takeaway had been ordered, after he had been doing "pieces to camera", "clearing documents" and "preparing for the next day" of campaigning. He said that restaurants and pubs were closed, and takeaways "were really the only way you could eat", he and others had picked up a plate of food from the kitchen and "got on with the work". It would be wrong, in other words, he said, to describe anything that happened as socialising.

On 4 May 2022, following "a number of recent communications on this subject" and the discovery of Rayner's presence at the event, despite Labour's initial denial, the police confirmed that they were considering whether any further action needed to be taken. Labour rejected any comparison between the Durham event and Partygate, arguing that Starmer did not break any rules because he was taking a break before returning to work.

Police investigation

On Thursday 5 May 2022, the day of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections, Starmer said he had not had any contact from Durham Constabulary. When the purdah period on the elections ended on Friday 6 May, Durham police stated that, "following the receipt of significant new information over recent days", an investigation "into potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations relating to this gathering" was being conducted. It was later reported that the police were due to send questionnaires to the suspects, and that the investigation would last as long as six weeks.

Reports after police reopened investigation

Robert Peston, writing for ITV News on 6 May, characterised the interaction between police and politics as being "an utter mess", saying that "Many would say this was material information for voters and that withholding it was a political action, rather than what it was presumably advised to the contrary".

The Guardian said that day that "the news is deeply uncomfortable for the party leader, who had called for Boris Johnson to resign when he was investigated for a breach of the law". A Labour spokesman said no rules were broken, which was repeated by Foy. In an interview with Sky News, Starmer said, "We were working in the office, we stopped for something to eat. No party, no breach of the rules," and, "The police have obviously got their job to do, we should let them get on it. But I'm confident that no rules were broken."

On Saturday 7 May Diane Abbott, who was Shadow Home Secretary under Corbyn, expressed her view that Starmer should "consider his position" if he were to receive an FPN from the police, but did not believe that he would get one.

Conservatives accused Starmer of hypocrisy for not resigning when the police reopened their investigation. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said, "I do think, though, that the public will be uncomfortable with the hypocrisy. I think he’s used one in three of his PMQs to talk about parties instead of focusing on the cost of living. He has tweeted himself saying that if you’re under investigation, a criminal investigation, then you should resign." On 12 January, Starmer had said at PMQs that the Prime Minister "needs to do the decent thing and resign" for repeatedly misleading Parliament, and on 31 January Starmer had tweeted "Honesty and decency matter. After months of denials the prime minister is now under criminal investigations for breaking his own lockdown laws. He needs to do the decent thing and resign". The deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, characterised Starmer's actions as "rank double standards", but did not call for Starmer to resign. Conservative whips told their MPs not to call for Starmer's resignation, as that would increase the pressure on Johnson. On GB News, Government minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said on 8 May that Starmer should not resign if he received an FPN for 'Beergate', categorising it as being equivalent to one for 'Partygate', which he described as "fluff".

An apparently leaked Labour Party document, published by The Mail on Sunday, showed the schedule outlining plans for Starmer's trip to Durham including the takeaway planned in advance for between 8:40 pm and 10 pm. The document included a reminder to "arrange takeaway from Spice Lounge", a local Indian restaurant, as Starmer's last work activity of the day, and the meal reportedly arrived late. Rayner was also planned to be in attendance. The Radisson Blu Hotel, the building where Starmer's team was staying, served food until 9 pm. A report in The Sun said that Starmer's police bodyguards had witnessed him and aides eating "a £200 order of curry", the Mirror reported it had interviewed the man who had served the meals, and he said the bill had definitely been much smaller. The barrister Adam Wagner, a specialist in lockdown rules, told The Guardian that he could not see how it could be a breach of the regulations, which allowed for any gathering that was reasonably necessary for work or voluntary activity, and the document showed that the event was pre-planned for a political purpose, unlike the multiple Partygate events investigated as they obviously had a social purpose.

On 8 May, The Times reported that an unnamed source who was present at the gathering said that Starmer did not return to work afterwards and that Foy and her staff were there to socialise, not to work. Politico reported on the morning of 9 May 2022 that an unnamed source "familiar with what happened that night" said that some junior staffers at the event were drunk "and obviously weren't working so I remember thinking: why are they here?" The same source also said that when the curry arrived late there was no longer any work being done, and they were not aware of any work being done afterwards, saying "It was Friday night after nine o'clock and some people were drinking ... Of course it crossed the line." Later that morning, Mary Foy issued a statement that "These allegations about my staff are untrue ... I have already said that I and my team were working during a very busy period, including facilitating the leader's visit. I do not believe either I or my office staff broke any rules."

On the evening of 9 May The Guardian reported that the Labour Party had shown it time-stamped logs of WhatsApp chats, documents, and video edits, which indicated that Starmer was being filmed in the hall up to 9:07 pm, editing followed, and work was still being done by team members an hour after midnight. The party said it was going to present this evidence to the Durham police investigation.

Starmer's and Rayner's statements

On the evening of 9 May, Starmer announced that he would resign as leader of the opposition if he were to receive an FPN for a breach of COVID-19 regulations. Rayner also said that she would resign if she were to receive an FPN. The political editor of The Observer has reported that Starmer had sought four different legal opinions, which gave him confidence he would be cleared in the investigation. Starmer stated his intent to demonstrate "different principles to the prime minister" (who had already been given an FPN for a breach at Downing Street), and said "The idea that I would casually break the rules is wrong. I don't think those who are accusing me of it believe it themselves ... They are trying to say all politicians are the same." He stated that "If the police decide to issue me with an FPN, I would of course do the right thing and step down", adding that "The British public deserve politicians who think the rules apply to them."

Replying to a media question about the possibility that the police might say there could have been a breach of rules but not issue an FPN, he said, "The penalty for a Covid breach is a fixed-penalty notice. That's a matter of law. And I've set out what the position is in relation to that." The Labour Party said that it had compiled detailed documentation and evidence that showed that work continued after the meal, with some team members working past 1 am.

Responses to Starmer's and Rayner's statements

The Daily Mail said Starmer's statement "placed detectives in the difficult position" of knowing their decision would have major political ramifications. and "ministers were concerned that Sir Keir’s intervention could place ‘undue pressure’ on Durham Constabulary to clear Sir Keir, or at least refrain from fining him". Its editorial comment said "Superficially of course, he appears to be doing the decent thing, though frankly, he didn’t have much choice."

The Times said national guidance and police practice of increasingly clamping down on offenders meant increased pressure on police to fine Starmer if they found he had breached regulations. It said some of Starmer's supporters assumed that Durham police would be reluctant to give him an FPN because in May 2021 they had concluded that Dominic Cummings might have committed a minor breach of lockdown rules at Barnard Castle but that no action would be taken. A source told The Times that the Durham police would be aware of potential fallout if they appeared to be treating Starmer more leniently than the Met had treated Johnson.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant and Tech and the Digital Economy minister Chris Philp accused Starmer's FPN statement of attempting to pressure the police into clearing him. Policing minister Kit Malthouse said "Durham police will operate professionally to the high standards we expect of them" irrespective of any alleged pressure. Crossbench peer Ken Macdonald, a former director of public prosecutions, said from his experience the police would ignore such pressure, and if anything focus more strongly on deciding for themselves.

Political consequences

On 8 May Damian Grammaticas, the BBC News political correspondent, said that, rather than being on Labour gains and Conservative losses in the May local elections, the political focus was on Starmer as he waited for the police to complete their enquiries. There have been claims that the police decision to reopen the investigation of Labour party members, announced the day after the May 2022 local elections, "robbed them of the chance to herald Labour's progress".

The Observer reported that in the week after Starmer announced he might resign, some potential replacement candidates had begun preparing for a possible leadership campaign.

See also

• Political impact of the COVID-19 pandemic