Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello, what’s goin’ on ‘ere, then? Boris Johnson might have shrugged off partygate but Sir Keir Starmer is not so lucky. The investigation by Durham police into whether the Labour leader and his deputy broke lockdown restrictions in April 2021 is still ongoing, with no end date yet announced. Sir Keir has pledged to quit if he is fined; that curry could yet become the most expensive takeaway of his life…
One intriguing detail about the fateful night in question was the presence of a protection team from the Metropolitan police. The Sun reported that Met bodyguards accompanied the Labour leader on the Durham trip, as part of his efforts during the Hartlepool by-election campaign. The paper published a photograph of a police Range Rover Discovery parked outside the Miners’ Hall where the event was held. The officers would, presumably, have witnessed what went on and whether any rules were indeed broken.
Sadly though, it seems that our boys in blue are less than enthusiastic to share details about Sir Keir Starmer’s police escort. A Freedom of Information request about the cost, numbers and subsistence arrangements for the officers involved in Starmer’s visit has been met by a flat rejection from the Met on the grounds of ‘law enforcement’, ‘health and safety,’ ‘personal information’ and, er, ‘national security.’ The force even refused to confirm whether Sir Keir does receive a police protection team – even though pictures of their vehicle have already been published online.
According to the Met, confirming it ‘could undermine the safeguarding of national security allowing those with terrorist intent to gain an operational advantage over UK policing’. It continues that it would only confirm that ‘police protection is provided to the Queen, her heir and the Prime Minster’ and adds, intriguingly, that protection is only provided ‘after careful evaluation of the threat and risks posed to those individuals by operational experts in this field of policing.’ What kind of threats has Sir Keir been facing, for him to require an escort?
Labour will just be hoping that an escort is the only kind of contact with the police he’ll have in future…
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