Labour has dismissed criticism of Sir Keir Starmer over a photograph taken last year which appears to show him drinking alcohol indoors with colleagues during a work meeting last May.
The photo was taken outside the window of a constituency office in Durham in the days leading up to the Hartlepool by-election last year. At that time, the restrictions allowed people to gather indoors for work purposes but not for social gatherings.
The timing of the re-emergence of the photo comes as pressure on Boris Johnson to resign intensifies following reports of another party in Number 10 held while the country was under COVID restrictions.
On Thursday it was reported two more parties – including a leaving-do for the prime minister’s head of communications – were held on the day before the Queen buried Prince Phillip and was forced to sit alone in a church on 17 April.
Amid growing public fury and calls for the prime minister to resign, the Telegraph reported on Thursday night senior Conservative sources branding Starmer a “complete hypocrite” over the photograph.
“Sir Keir has spent the past two months criticising people for doing the exact same thing he’s been doing himself,” they said. “He is an absolute hypocrite.”
Read More: Labour rejects claims Keir Starmer a hypocrite after lockdown drinking picture resurfaces
