Starmer questioned on whether voice coach visit breached lockdown rules

Sir Keir Starmer is facing accusations that helium breached Covid rules by gathering a dependable manager during the wintertime of 2020.

The Prime Minister reportedly employed Leonie Mellinger to assistance him hole a effect to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, according to a publication by 2 Sunday Times journalists.

Get In, by journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, claims classically trained dramatist Ms Mellinger advised the Prime Minister connected his speaking style.

Excerpts of the publication published successful the Sunday Times said she qualified for “key worker” presumption and visited Labour Party office wearing a look disguise successful December 2020, to counsel Sir Keir connected however to publically respond to the Brexit deal.

Following the reports, Tory erstwhile curate Richard Holden has written to the Prime Minister asking him to accidental whether helium thinks it was a breach of the law, arsenic London and the South East were nether determination restrictions astatine the time.

Mr Holden, the MP for Basildon and Billericay, besides asked whether Sir Keir would present name an autarkic researcher to wide up the claims.

He besides asked: “Do you deliberation it would beryllium close for different members of the nationalist to get acting lessons during tier 4 restrictions?”

Signing disconnected the letter, the Tory MP added: “There is simply a beardown nationalist involvement into your behaviour during the pandemic and it is wide from these revelations that not lone person you misled the nationalist but you had a casual disregard for the instrumentality astatine a clip erstwhile truthful galore radical were making specified hard sacrifices each successful the work of advancing your ain governmental career.

“You person said ‘honesty and decency matters’ – I anticipation you volition dainty these questions to you with the aforesaid standards you asked of others.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “The rules were followed astatine each times.”

Mr Holden has antecedently raised questions astir the Prime Minister’s behaviour during lockdown, including Sir Keir’s attendance astatine a Labour Party gathering successful Durham successful April 2021, arsenic helium joined a section predetermination campaign.

A constabulary investigation, dubbed Beergate, recovered neither Sir Keir nor his lawman Angela Rayner breached Covid rules.

I deliberation what you spot with Keir Starmer is simply a existent determination to alteration the country

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper

Elsewhere successful excerpts of the book, Downing Street main of unit Morgan McSweeney is said to person described his main arsenic “like an HR manager, not a leader”.

Mr McSweeney is claimed to person voiced fears successful backstage that the Prime Minister “might beryllium excessively timid”, but besides described Sir Keir arsenic “very bright” and “not wholly unpolitical”.

Another unnamed state is claimed to person said Sir Keir was not “driving the train” but sitting astatine the beforehand of an automatically driven one, akin to London’s Docklands Light Railway.

One of the Prime Minister’s astir elder ministers, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper dismissed the claims.

She told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I deliberation what you spot with Keir Starmer is simply a existent determination to alteration the country.

“It’s wherefore helium acceptable retired the program for alteration with wide action, wide things that he’s determined to alteration crossed the country.”

Leonie Mellinger was contacted for comment.