Sir Keir Starmer: Police have not been in touch over Durham Covid beer

Sir Keir Starmer has said the police have not contacted him again about accusations he broke lockdown rules by drinking a beer in an MP's office.

The Labour leader was pictured with the bottle through a window in Durham on 30 April 2021, but was cleared by the local force of breaking any laws.

However, Tory MPs have called for the event to be reinvestigated.

But speaking to ITV's GMB on Wednesday, he pointed to a statement by the force last week saying they were not reinvestigating the event, adding: "They haven't spoken to me."

The row comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak were fined by the Metropolitan Police for attending a birthday party for the PM in Downing Street as part of an investigation into 12 gatherings across government buildings during the pandemic.

Scotland Yard have said at least 50 fines have been issued as a result of their inquiry, but that they will not be announcing any further fixed penalty notices in the run-up to the local election.

Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told BBC Breakfast there was "a world of difference" between the two incidents, saying Sir Keir had "no case to answer".

She added: "It didn't break the rules and the Tory mudslinging is to try and distract from the rule-breaking at No 10, but also from the cost-of-living crisis."

The picture of Sir Keir was taken in the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election in the office of City of Durham MP Mary Foy.

Labour has always insisted no rules were broken and, in February, Durham Police said they did not believe an offence had been committed.

But local Tory MP Richard Holden wrote to the force last week asking them to reconsider, saying lockdown rules "should be applied equally" between the Labour leader and the prime minister.

Asked if he had been questioned by officers again since Mr Holden's letter, Sir Keir told GMB: "I think [Durham Police] put out a statement last week saying they're not reinvestigating and they haven't spoken to me."

He then described the event, saying he and his team were "in the office preparing" for the by-election.

"Now, that evening, from memory, we were doing an online event for members because we had this get out the vote thing," the Labour leader added.

"At some point, this was in the evening, everybody's hungry and then that takeaway was ordered. It was then delivered into the kitchen.

"Restaurants and pubs were closed, so takeaways were really the only way you could eat.

"So this was brought in and at various points people went through the kitchen, got a plate, had some food to eat and got on with their work."

Sir Keir also said that during lockdown his wife had not been able to clean her vulnerable father's home because she had been sticking to the rules about social contact.

Defending her boss, Ms Reeves added: "Boris Johnson has lied and lied again, and then covered up the lies to Parliament about what happened at No 10.

"There is a world of difference between the rule-breaking and the fines that the prime minister and his office have received - compared to what Keir did - which is basically working all day in an office and stopping to have some food and a drink."