Damian Green: Respect the law and wait for Keir Starmer investigation to finish | UK News

People should have “respect for the law” and wait until Durham police to conclude their investigation into ‘beergate’ before offering an opinion, the Conservative MP Damian Green has said.

Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Mr Green urged everyone not provide a “foolish” running commentary but instead wait to see if the force will hand Sir Keir Starmer a fixed penalty notice.

“Let’s not do a running commentary on police enquiries,” he said. 

“Everyone is gaily indulging in this. I think if you have any kind of respect for police investigations and the law then you wait to the end of the procedure before opining on it.”

“I think having a running commentary in the middle of a police investigation is pretty foolish,” he added.

His intervention comes as the Labour leader yesterday vowed to resign from his position if he is found to have broken coronavirus laws and is issued with a fixed penalty notice over the ‘beergate’ scandal.

In a move that attempted to put the pressure over Covid rule breaches back on Boris Johnson – who has not stood down despite being fined – Sir Keir said: “The British public deserve politicians who think the rules apply to them”.

The Labour leader repeated his insistence that no laws were broken – but his announcement is something of a gamble and places his political future in the hands of Durham Constabulary.

There were accusations on Monday night that the move puts the force under “improper” pressure to clear Sir Keir. 

Ken MacDonald, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, told the BBC that the Durham police will not feel any pressure from the public and will be solely focussed on the question of whether or not a fixed penalty notice should be issued.

“I think the job of the police here is to decide if the rules were broken and issue a fixed penalty notice. I don’t think it’s the job of the police to issue guidance or express other feelings about the event,” he said.