Police clear formation leader Keir Starmer of violating sanitation restrictions during the pandemic
British Labor will table a vote of confidence against Boris Johnson if the prime minister continues to lead the government through the election of his successor, which is scheduled for the fall. The leader of the centre-left formation, Keir Starmer, on Friday emphasized his strategy of parliamentary pressure against the discredited Conservative leader after learning he has been freed from suspicions that he was also violating Covid-19 rules. “Honesty and integrity are important,” he emphasized during a televised press conference.
Durham police, in the north east of England, announced hours earlier that they had suspended an investigation into alleged violations of the social constraints of the pandemic by a large group of politicians and Labor officials. The case dates back to April 2021, when Starmer and the party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner met at Durham headquarters with Labor officers and volunteers. They photographed him, from the street, with a beer in hand, but initially the case did not arouse much interest from the police. The investigations were reopened this spring in the heat of the illegal Downing Street party scandal, which contributed to Johnson’s political decline.
Starmer and Rayner promised to resign from their respective positions if they were fined for the “beergate” (from the meaning of beer). Both have always denied breaking the law and police confirmed this line of defense this Friday by concluding that it was a work meeting. Among the exceptions allowed in the restrictions of the moment, the meetings are termed “reasonably necessary for work matters.” “It was a matter of principle. Those who make the laws can’t break them,” said Starmer, delighted to finally erase the shadow of suspicion and the risk of his self-elimination from politics.
The acquittal of the police has strengthened his leadership. He is described as dull in opinion polls, which also show Labour’s steady lead over the Conservatives in recent months. Starmer has again pushed for Johnson’s immediate departure and is confident he can field the eventual winner of the ‘Tories’ primaries from the ‘list of leadership candidates who have supported the Prime Minister for months and months’. “They took him down on a matter of trust and integrity and that deplorable behavior won’t change in two months,” he noted before urging Johnson to stop “desperately holding onto power” and “marching now.” from Downing Street.
A motion of censure by the opposition would hardly achieve the goal set by Labour. Conservative MPs are more likely to collude against Johnson than join their political opponents in the final showdown with the outgoing president. But the threat from Starmer’s team adds an additional pressure point to the internal forces demanding the humiliated Prime Minister’s departure as soon as possible.
Source: La Verdad
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