Update: Keir Starmer has confirmed he would “do the right thing” and quit if he is handed a fine.
Keir Starmer is considering announcing that he will resign as Labour leader if he is found guilty of breaching Covid rules.
Police in Durham announced last week that they will re-investigate claims that he broke covid lockdown laws in April, 2021, by having curry and beer with colleagues.
Starmer has repeatedly insisted that no rules were broken because the meal took place during a work meeting, and that he and his staff went back to work again afterwards
The Labour leader pulled out of a planned speech and question-and-answer session, which he had been due to make on Monday.
According to The Times, Starmer is being encouraged by close colleagues to announce that should be be found to have broken covid rules by Durham Constabulary, he will resign.
It is hoped that would heap pressure on Boris Johnson, who Starmer has called on to quit after he was issued with a fixed penalty notice for attending a birthday party in the Cabinet Office in June, 2020.
One senior Labour source told HuffPost UK: “He is more likely to go down that route than not.
“I suspect there has been quite a lot of discussion about it and ultimately his instinct is that his integrity is more important to him than anything else.
“The fundamental position is we don’t think he has breached the rules and we’re very confident about that.
“But in the end, he’s been clear what the threshold for resigning is when it comes to the prime minister.”
One supporter told The Times: “There’s a clear logic to it. It would give him something to say at the despatch box when Johnson raises it.”
Earlier this morning, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting dismissed suggestions that Starmer will have to quit.
He said: “I just don’t think that’s going to happen, I’m not going to entertain that prospect.”
On Sunday night, cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said he did not believe Starmer should have to resign even if he is fined.
Many Tories fear that the prime minister will come under renewed pressure to quit if the Labour leader falls on his own sword.
David Simmonds MP told other members of the Tories’ 2019 intake in a WhatsApp group: “The only ‘good’ outcome I can see is if Starmer is fined and doesn’t resign. Any other outcome just makes us look worse by comparison.”