Sir Keir Starmer says Government ‘taking public for fools’

Earlier today it emerged Helen MacNamara, who was in charge of Whitehall propriety and ethics at the time, received a £50 fine after police concluded she had broken Covid laws.

Ms MacNamara, who now works for the Premier League, said: “I am sorry for the error of judgment I have shown. I have accepted and paid the fixed penalty notice.”

She was reported to have received the fine in connection with a leaving do held in the Cabinet Office on June 18 2020, for Hannah Young, a Downing Street aide who was moving to New York to take up a role with the British Consulate General.

Police have started issuing fines over Downing Street parties in breach of Covid regulations. Picture: PA

The Labour leader said the Government was “taking the public for fools yet again”.

He added: “I think it is very important that the Prime Minister makes sure that all those who are given fines, certainly in senior positions, are named.

“We seem to be going through this process where instant by instant, fines are coming out but the public are being left in the dark. The public complied with the rules. They are entitled to know who didn’t comply with the rules and what is going on.”

Kier Starmer said it is "absolutely important" the Prime Minister is "honest and accountable to Parliament". Picture: PA

Sir Keir later said: “If the Prime Minister wants to come to Parliament and tell us that he was repeatedly lied to by his own advisers then let him do that.

“The idea that he had no idea what was going on in his home and his office and he only gave answers because he was lied to by his officials is a case he needs to make. I would like to see him make that case because I don’t think he can.”

Earlier Downing Street has declined to say whether Boris Johnson believes coronavirus laws were broken at No 10 after fines were issued.

Asked by broadcasters if the Prime Minister should return to Parliament to correct the record on earlier statements about partygate, Sir Keir said: “It is absolutely important that the Prime Minister is honest and accountable to Parliament. I shouldn’t have to say that.

“That has been a principle for a very long time. The idea that we are even debating whether it is all right for the Prime Minister to have lied about this shows just how far the standards have sunk under this Prime Minister.

“He needs to come to Parliament to be held to account. He has not only misled the public about this, he has presided over widespread criminality in his home and his office and that is why I am convinced he is unfit for office.”