Downing Street today stated that the meeting of Sir Keir Starmer with his voting coach had to be at the height of Covid restrictions personally because they denied a violation of the rules.
The prime minister was left with questions after it was revealed that Leonie Mellinger, an actress and coach of the communication skills, visited Labor HQ on December 24, 2020.
She told the authors of a new book about Sir Keir that she used her 'most important employee' status to visit the offices of the London on Christmas Eve in London to help the Labor leader.
At the time, Sir Keir was looking for his reaction to the Boris Johnson of the then PM Brexit deal when the negotiations with the EU were closed.
He gave a virtual press conference on 24 December to confirm that Labor would support the trade agreement with Brussels.
Sir Keir has been left behind accusations of a violation of Covid rules by meeting his voting coach on a day on which London was under heavy 'Tier 4' restrictions.
There were also questions about why Mrs. Mellinger had to visit the Labor leader personally, after she appeared, she had previously advised him via a video call.
But Sir Keir's press secretary said this afternoon that the prime minister believed that it was not reasonably possible for them to do the work she was doing from home.
The press secretary revealed that Mrs. Mellinger was 'nuclear part of a small team' that Sir Keir helped in the day, which now also included Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Downing Street insisted that the meeting of Sir Keir Starmer with his voting coach had to be at the height of Covid restrictions, because they denied a violation of the rules
The prime minister was left with questions after it was revealed that Leonie Mellinger, an actress and coach of communication skills, visited Labour on December 24, 2020
At 6 pm on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Mellinger shared a photo of himself who traveled home on a otherwise abandoned train car
At the time of Mrs. Mellinger's visit to Sir Keir, Christmas was effectively canceled for millions of Britons after they were told that they would no longer be able to mix with other households.
Employees were also told that 'everyone should work from home unless they cannot do this'.
There are also questions about whether Mrs. Mellinger has traveled from a 'Tier 3' area to a 'Tier 4' area to meet Sir Keir, when traveling to 'Tier 4' areas were forbidden.
At 6 pm on Christmas Eve, she shared a photo of herself that traveled home on a different train wagon. Three days later she uploaded an image of Brighton Beach.
Sir Keir defended his voting coach at the end of 2020 when he was grilled today with the prime minister's questions.
Gagan Mohindra, Tory MP for South West Hertfordshire, asked the prime minister: 'Can he repeat his guarantees that all rules were followed while the country was in Tier 4 Lockdown in December 2020?
“Not only by him, but also to his team, but also by his voice coach Leonie Mellinger.”
The prime minister replied: 'In December 2020 I was working on the expected Brexit deal in my office.
'With my team we had to analyze the deal while it arrived at speed, a live statement on one of the most important issues for our country came and delivered in recent years.
That's what I did. What were they doing? Suitcases of drinks in Downing Street, parties and fighting, broke the walls and leave the cleaners to remove red wine stains.
“That's the difference; I worked, they were partying. '
After PMQs, Sir Keir's press secretary said that Mrs. Mellinger was a 'nuclear part of a small team' that helps him to prepare for statements and press conferences during the pandemic.
The conservatives demanded a police investigation into whether laws were violated by Sir Keir's voting coach.
A spokesperson for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'The most important question here is: is a voting coach an important employee who can travel from Tier 4 to Tier 3 during Lockdown?
'It doesn't matter if you are part of a core team, that is the question. Now Keir Starmer said that legislators cannot be legal breakers.
“It is almost unimaginable not to agree that that was a clear violation of the COVID rules.”
Asked if Mrs Badenoch thought the police should investigate, he said, “Yes, she does.”
The spokesperson added that he accused Mrs. Mellinger of the violation of the law, rather than Sir Keir, but claimed that the remark about legislators are not law overbreakers who were applied to the PM 'by Proxy'.
