Durham Police have confirmed that they will reinvestigate Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over a gathering in Durham last April.

In a statement today they said: “Earlier this year, Durham constabulary carried out an assessment as to whether Covid-19 regulations had been breached at a gathering in Durham City on April 30 2021.

“At that time, it was concluded that no offence had been established and therefore no further action would be taken. Following the receipt of significant new information over recent days, Durham constabulary has reviewed that position and now, following the conclusion of the pre-election period, we can confirm that an investigation into potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations relating to this gathering is now being conducted.”

Starmer was accused of breaching Covid rules after drinking beer in Durham’s local Labour party office after 10:00pm on 30 April 2021.

Covid rules at the time stressed that such indoor political meetings were only legally permitted and “reasonably necessary” for a campaign.

A student that filmed the gathering previously told The Times newspaper that “no work was done” during the meeting.

The Sun newspaper is also alleging that the group of Labour campaigners ordered enough food from a local curry house to feed 30 people.

The Daily Mail published a “six-page dossier” on the row last month, saying that Labour now admits deputy leader Angela Rayner was too in attendance at the event, despite previously stating she was not.

A Labour spokesperson told the paper that the inconsistent statements regarding the gathering were “an honest mistake”.

More to follow