LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Labour leader Keir Starmer says he would do the right thing and quit if the police fines him.
The full text of Starmer’s statement in which he offered to quit if he was penalised for breaking the lockdown restrictions. He said that:Â
He had always followed the regulations since the initial Covid lockdown.
People were desperate for companionship. They were cut off from their families and friends. Unfortunately, many people were unable to see their dying loved ones. That was a sacrifice made by everyone. People had a right to expect politicians to obey the same rules as the rest of them.
He and his wife were unable to provide her father with the support they desired after his mother-in-law died suddenly soon before the first lockdown because they had obeyed the rules.
Barely had a day gone without agonising over that decision. However, they had succeeded because they obeyed the rules.
Following those restrictions had been frustrating for them all at times, and he was no exception. During Covid, he had to be isolated six times, taking him away from his work and the activities he enjoyed. But he had done it because the regulations were followed.
The notion that he would then casually break those standards was absurd, and he didn’t believe others who accused him to do so believed that either. They were simply trying to instil scepticism in the people, leading them to assume that all politicians were the same.
But here he was to tell them that they weren’t. He believed in honour, integrity, and the concept that those who made the rules needed to follow them. And he was of the belief that politicians who violated that principle damage public trust in politics, their democracy, and the United Kingdom.
He was certain that no laws had been breached. They were always being watched. He merely had something to eat while working late at night, as any politician would do in the days leading up to an election.
However, if the police decided to issue him a fixed penalty notice, he would, without a doubt, do the right thing and resign.
This was significant. It mattered because the British people deserved representatives who believed in following the rules. They deserved politicians that held themselves to the highest standards, and politicians who chose the country before themselves. That was something they would always get from him.
