Sir Keir Starmer has denied breaking lockdown rules after it emerged he had met a voice coach during the winter of 2020.
The Prime Minister said “of course” he did not breach restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic by working with a communication skills specialist on a response to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
In excerpts of Get In, a book on Sir Keir’s leadership being serialised by The Sunday Times, the coach, Leonie Mellinger, is described as having qualified for “key worker” status.
She also wore a face mask during the meeting at Labour Party headquarters on Christmas Eve in 2020, according to the book by political journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund.
But opposition critics have seized on the revelation as evidence of what they suggest amounts to a potential breach of lockdown rules, as London and the South East were under regional restrictions at the time.
Tory former minister Richard Holden has written to the Prime Minister to ask whether he thinks it flouted the restrictions and insisted he has “serious questions” to answer.
At the end of a press conference during his visit to Brussels on Monday, Sir Keir was asked whether he broke rules during the Covid pandemic.
“Of course not,” he replied before leaving the podium.
Downing Street had repeatedly refused to be drawn on the claims lockdown rules were breached when asked by journalists earlier on Monday.
Asked if Sir Keir considered the voice coach to be a key worker, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I’m not going to get into any matter to do with opposition.
“The Prime Minister is focused on delivering on the Government’s priorities and the people’s priorities.”
Asked if he still used a voice coach, the spokesman said: “Not that I’m aware of.”
Catherine McKinnell, the minister for school standards, suggested the revelation “contrasts quite sharply” with Covid-era parties in CCHQ and Downing Street.
“As far as I’m aware there were no Covid rules broken,” she told Times Radio.
“People were able to go to work and undertake really important roles and that was clearly a very important moment in Britain where an important public statement had to be made.”
