Keir Starmer had no option but to say – as he has done – that he will resign if fined for breaching Covid rules, as I already pointed out on Friday when Durham police announced it was investigating whether his beer and curry last April was work sustenance or an illegal party.
There were two reasons why he had to put his job on the line.
First, he would never get over the charge of grotesque hypocrisy had he failed to do this, given that he and his party have repeatedly and urgently called on Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to quit, after they received fixed penalty notices for attending the PM’s birthday party.
Until Starmer is either fined and resigns or is cleared, any charge the Labour leader lays against Johnson is less stinging
Second, and this is short-term politics, tomorrow Starmer would not have been heard in the important Queen’s Speech debate on Johnson’s new legislative programme, because Tory MPs would have repeatedly interrupted his address to taunt him about the police probe.
To be clear, the idea that ministers or party leaders should not break the criminal law and remain in office is not a revolutionary one.
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