Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested Sir Keir Starmer should not resign if he is fined by Durham Police over the beer and takeaway meal with colleagues during lockdown.
Mr Rees-Mogg – who has previously dismissed the Partygate scandal as “fluff” – said the Labour leader should be left to get on with more important matters.
It comes despite senior Tories’ attempts to step up pressure over the “Beergate” saga, with ministers demanding Starmer address “holes” in his account over the curry eaten at a Labour event last April.
Asked by Andrew Neil on his new Channel 4 programme if he thought the Beergate row was also “fluff”, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “It must be in the same category of seriousness.”
Asked if he should step down if fined, the senior Tory figure said: “I think he should pay a fine and talk about the issues of great importance.”
The Brexit opportunities minister added: “The difficulty for Sir Keir is that he said, before the result of an investigation, that the prime minister should resign.”
Mr Rees-Mogg said Partygate scandal was “fundamentally second tier” issue, adding: “The issue for [Starmer] is one of judgement. Did he get Partygate right? … This is the not the primary issue of our time.”
The veteran interviewer joked about the saga at the start of The Andrew Neil Show. Seen eating a curry with a bottle of beer, Mr Neil said it was “not a party – it’s work event”.
Durham Constabulary is now investigating claims that an event attended by Sir Keir and other senior party figures and activists while campaigning last year might have broken local Covid regulations.
A leaked memo in The Mail on Sunday indicated that the takeaway meal in Durham had been planned as part of Sir Keir’s itinerary for from 8.40pm to 10pm on the day of campaigning last April.
The only business listed after the dinner was for Sir Keir to walk back to his hotel, according to the report. The Labour leader has previously claimed he “paused for food” and continued working after the meal, saying “the idea that nobody works at 10 o’clock at night is absurd”.
Separately, a source who was present at the event told the Sunday Times: “He did not go back to work to the best of my knowledge.” The same source said some Labour people “were just there for a jolly”.
A spokesman for Starmer’s office said: “Keir was working, a takeaway was made available in the kitchen, and he ate between work demands. No rules were broken.”
Deputy PM Dominic Raab accused Sir Keir of “complete hypocrisy” over the saga, telling Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: “He needs to fess up and answer all of the holes in the account that he gave for that beer and curry event in Durham.”
But Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy described Sir Keir as “Mr Rules” on Sunday, and said Tory ministers’ attacks over the Beergate saga were “frankly absurd and pretty desperate”.
It comes as the Metropolitan Police are believed to have begun issuing more fines to Downing Street staff over gatherings held in government offices during Covid lockdown curbs.
Scotland Yard is starting to hand out fines over a Christmas party held at No 10 on 18 December 2020, according to The Mirror.
Scotland Yard would not confirm if fines had yet been issued over the event – held while London was in strict Tier 3 measures – but it is one of 12 events its Operation Hillman team is investigating.
Mr Johnson was forced to address the issue of the 18 December bash after the explosive leak of a video showing staff holding a mock press conference and making jokes about a Christmas party.
It led to the resignation of government aide Allegra Stratton and the announcement of an investigation by top civil servant Sue Gray’s investigation.
