Durham Police to Investigate Kier Starmer over breaking lockdown rules

Urmstongran

I don’t know Casdon. He’s only had the one .FPN as far as I know?

Actually, Lucky Starmer. Labour would have had a bigger knock. Funny how Durham police waited until after the local elections to make their announcement.
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Sometimes you have a strange relationship with the facts UG.

Why have the Met police not served the mountain of FPN's they have waiting? Because they are observing the election "Purdah". That is exactly why the Durham police haven't acted until today. It will be interesting to see if Durham have broken the Purdah as I seem to remember it should last until a new council is formed. It may be okay as they couldn't influence the outcome. If that is the case the additional fines should be on Number 10's doormat and we should be getting news of what has happened. Of course, they may be.

Urmstongran

I believe both "crimes", if that's what they technically were, are so trivial as to be beyond parody. Millions of people have far more important things to worry about.

But Labour has spent the past few months furiously weaponising this, adopting the most nauseatingly holier-than-thou attitude, so this latest development is such delicious irony. And much as I believe any investigation by Durham police is a waste of public money, when they should be out catching real criminals, simple fairness demands it goes ahead.

I agree.

GrannyGravy13

Casdon I have two friends married to English men who have lived here for 40 and 22 years respectively as they have never applied for citizenship they can vote in local elections and I believe they were permitted to vote in the European Parliament elections whilst the U.K. was an EU member.

GrannyGravy13 Thanks, every day’s a school day on Gransnet, I didn’t know that. They must have a system to demarcate at Councils between who is eligible for which type of election so you only get sent a poll card if you’re eligible. I wonder how many people it applies to who bother to vote.

It’s only not happened so far for Boris, because they weren’t sending more to any politicians during purdah. Purdah is over today as the election has happened, so watch this space I suspect.

Oops sorry, they are not allowed to vote in GE

Casdon I have two friends married to English men who have lived here for 40 and 22 years respectively as they have never applied for citizenship they can vote in local elections and I believe they were permitted to vote in the European Parliament elections whilst the U.K. was an EU member.

I don’t know Casdon. He’s only had the one .FPN as far as I know?

Actually, Lucky Starmer. Labour would have had a bigger knock. Funny how Durham police waited until after the local elections to make their announcement.
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Urmstongran

JUST IN: Durham police confirm they have received “significant new information” and are investigating “gathering”

I wonder if it’s the video taken by the two students?

You're a bit late. Which video taken by which students?

Do you think Boris is just guilty of the one offence then Urmstongran?

I believe both "crimes", if that's what they technically were, are so trivial as to be beyond parody. Millions of people have far more important things to worry about.

But Labour has spent the past few months furiously weaponising this, adopting the most nauseatingly holier-than-thou attitude, so this latest development is such delicious irony. And much as I believe any investigation by Durham police is a waste of public money, when they should be out catching real criminals, simple fairness demands it goes ahead.

GrannyGravy13

There are people who can vote in local elections but not General Elections, I am unsure of the percentage though.

GE are an entirely different ball game in my opinion.

Do tell, I didn’t know that. I thought you had to be on the electoral roll to vote in either, unless you’re thinking of 16-18 year olds, who can vote in Scotland and Wales, but not in general elections?

Whitewavemark2

We need the Sue Gray report.

And the awaited and not talked about round of fines.

JUST IN: Durham police confirm they have received “significant new information” and are investigating “gathering”

I wonder if it’s the video taken by the two students?

There are people who can vote in local elections but not General Elections, I am unsure of the percentage though.

GE are an entirely different ball game in my opinion.

It's being investigated because more information has come out.

The thing is people vote differently in these local elections. Many don't bother voting at all. The Lib Dems often do well then fail to capitalise in a General Election. Protest votes. Mid term blues.

As mentioned earlier both Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair had disastrous mid term elections yet went on to win in the following General Elections.

Labour didn't do as well as expected. Or Conservatives didn't do as badly as expected. There was talk of them losing 600 seats in the press earlier this week.

Nothing really to see here. We'll just have to wait until the next GE whenever that happens.

Even at this relatively low level of achievement from Labour, the projection is that the Tories would lose their overall majority.

I think that there is a real argument for the opposition to join forces.

WWM2 The OP is a bit weird

Are we getting pedantic now? I thought OP stood for Original Poster, not Original Post.

MayBee70

Since when have PM’s had to be exciting? Was Cameron exciting? May? I don’t understand this media obsession with charisma and exciting. If that gives us PM’s like Johnson heaven help us.

Lloyd George was probably the last one who was charismatic and exciting or maybe Anthony Eden .....to the ladies. Edwina Currie would disagree with you.
If someone broke the rules it shouldn't matter which party they are in and be reinvestigated.
They knew the rules that they expected 100% of the country to follow they made them.

I didn’t say that you were weird! I thought that your post was.

Never make it personal!

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

We need the Sue Gray report.

A thread on twitter

There is a difference in law between a pre-arranged social event (birthday party) and a meal whilst campaigning when there is nowhere else to get food.

There is no prospect of showing a pre-arranged birthday party is reasonably necessary for work - it is a purely social event

In the same way that if colleagues ate together in a canteen a lunchtime during the working day, that would be "reasonably necessary for work", although there was some guidance about not encouraging mixing between people not working together.

The problem with the gatherings at Downing Street is each of them was a pre-arranged social gathering with no work purpose. Leaving parties, Christmas parties, bring your own booze parties, birthday party. Like a list of the kind of events you clearly couldn't have at the time.

This is what Starmer said about the gathering - they were campaigning, that there was nowhere else to get food at the time, and“if you didn’t get a takeaway then our team wasn’t eating that evening”. That is a different scenario to purely social gatherings

I seriously doubt a magistrate would conclude - assuming Starmer is telling the truth - that they were "sure" the gathering was not reasonably necessary for work. But even if I'm wrong (and I appreciate people will see this through a political lens) it makes no difference...
... to my analysis of the Downing St gatherings, which appears to be shared by the Metropolitan Police, that they were not permitted.

Put another way - if Keir Starmer did break the law (which I very much doubt) that doesn't change the law, which the PM appears to have broken multiple times. It's not a race to the bottom, each event is taken on its merits. It may change the politics but that's a different point

Adam Wagner

If he broke the rules, fair enough.

The Met are supposed to be issuing more fines to Downing Street now that the local elections are over, and then Sue Grey's report will be published.

Interesting times.

MayBee70

Since when have PM’s had to be exciting? Was Cameron exciting? May? I don’t understand this media obsession with charisma and exciting. If that gives us PM’s like Johnson heaven help us.

John Major ? ?