The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he will step down from his role if he is issued with a fine for breaking COVID rules.
The politician has been under fire in recent days after photos emerged that showed him having a beer and a curry in an MPs office while the rest of the nation was still under lockdown restrictions.
Sir Keir has today told reporters that ‘the idea that I would casually break the rules is wrong’, and insisted that he ‘simply had something to eat whilst working late in the evening’.
But he has said that if police issue him with a fixed penalty notice – something that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has received in recent weeks – he would ‘do the right thing and step down’.
"If the police decide to issue me with a Fixed Penalty Notice, I would, of course, do the right thing and step down"
He said: “This matters. It matters because the British public deserve politicians who think the rules apply to them.
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“They deserve politicians who hold themselves to the highest standards, and they deserve politicians who put the country first rather than themselves. They will always get that from me.”
Angela Rayner, who was also at the ‘Beergate’ event in Durham, has also said that she would step down if she received a fine.
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Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner were both present at the ‘Beergate’ event but insist no rules were broken. Credit: ITV
She said in a statement: “I’ve always been clear that I was at the event in Durham working in my capacity as deputy leader and that no rules were broken. Eating during a long day’s work was not against the rules.
“We have a prime minister who has been found to have broken the rules, lied about it and then been fined. If I were issued with a fine, I would do the decent thing and step down.”
Do you think Sir Keir Starmer deserves to receive a fixed penalty notice over Beergate? Have your say in the comments on our Facebook page.
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Sir Keir’s statement also said: “We all found following those rules frustrating at times, I’m no exception to that. I had to isolate six times during Covid, pulling me away from my work and the things I love. But I did it, because we followed the rules.
“The idea that I would then casually break those rules is wrong, and frankly I don’t believe those accusing me believe it themselves. They are just trying to feed cynicism, so the public to believe all politicians are the same.
“But I am here to say they are not. I believe in honour, integrity and the principle that those who make the laws must follow them.
“And I believe that politicians who undermine that principle undermine trust in politics, undermine our democracy and undermine Britain.”
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Ever since the first Covid lockdown I have always followed the rules.
Featured image: BBC
UK News
Rare picture of David Bowie’s legendary one-off gig in Stockport unearthed
Danny Jones
A rare picture taken from the night of the late, great David Bowie’s legendary one-off gig in Stockport has been unearthed by a local whilst digging through his loft.
Imagine having that kind of history just squirrelled away in an attic…
As revealed by Stockport Music Story, after being supplied with the image by David Maynard, the snap was shared more than half a century on from the much-mythologised moment in Greater Manchester music history.
In fact, it was put on display and posted on social media quite literally 56 years to the day since Bowie played his only Stopfordian set on 27 April, 1970.
Maynard himself is featured in the newly discovered photograph (second from the left) and was one of the select and lucky few who were in the room for that very special show.
Organised by a group of teens on behalf of the Stockport Schools’ Students’ Union, the performance took place at the long-gone Poco a Poco music venue and club over in Heaton Chapel.
The storied space hosted many big names over the years – Gerry Marsden, Freddie Starr, Hank Marvin and more – but sadly closed in May of 1987 following a fire.
It went on to become the popular Hinds Head pub, which still serves punters to this day, but once had the honour of hosting a true artistic great and British icon.
For anyone wondering, this is indeed the same night on which David Robert Jones (yes, that’s Bowie‘s full birth name) missed his train home and had to sleep on the railway platform.
Here’s a BBC segment covering the tale back on its 55th anniversary in April 2025.
It may be a small and somewhat curious claim to fame, but native love the legend of it all nonetheless.
As for the other individuals pictured alongside him, Stockport Music Story (SMS) said: “The names of the people we know are David Maynard (2nd left), Roz Wood (3rd left), David Bowie, Bill Frost (2nd right), Stewart Rigby (right).”
They go on to add: “It would be amazing to find out who the other people in the photograph are and what they remember from that night.” We sincerely hope they do.
You can now see the plaque up close and personal at Stockport Station for yourselves and as for SMS’s growing archive of the region’s creative culture, you can find out tonnes more about other pieces of SK heritage right HERE.
Featured Images — David Maynard via Stockport Music Story/Stockport Council
UK News
Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight FINALLY booked
Danny Jones
It seems like it’s official: Tyson Fury is finally set to fight Anthony Joshua – and it sounds like it’s happening this year.
Put it this way, it better be worth all the hype after all this time.
Arguably one of the most anticipated all-British bouts of the last few decades, the boxing match between Fury and Joshua is one that fight fans, and even those only occasionally interested in the sport, have been waiting to be booked for ages.
It got to a point where we almost started to think we’d never get to see it come to fruition whatsoever, but now promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed that it’s all locked in.
As you can see, putting things in the simplest terms possible, the Matchroom Boxing boss said on social media: “Signed, sealed, delivered! AJ v Fury is on!”
This comes after a previous post, in which he wrote: “The biggest piece of business we’ve ever done, but more importantly, the one we’ve always wanted.
“Biggest year of AJ’s career coming up, the comeback is on.”
Tagging the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) and co-founder of Zuffa Boxing, Turki Al-Sheikh, the government official looks to have recently held a major event in which he hosted several big sporting names.
It was already heavily expected that any potential clash would take place in the Middle East, and it now looks like nailed on that it will be part of the country’s annual ‘Riyadh Season’.
Although things have been relatively tight-lipped on Fury‘s side, ‘The Gypsy King’ did share a little reaction of his own online…
Still more of a teaser on his end than full verification, we hope they’re not going to lead us down the garden path on this one; boxing heads have waited long enough for this one.
The 37-year-old Manchester-born boxer returned to the ring after yet ANOTHER ‘retirement’ earlier this month, winning comfortably against Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Meanwhile, Joshua, now 36, will be making his own comeback of sorts against Kristian Prenga on July 25 – this will also be taking place in Riyadh.
Daisy Jackson -
9th May 2022 
