Voice coach ‘travelled 50 miles during lockdown to train Keir Starmer’
Sir Keir Starmer has rejected suggestions he may have broken lockdown rules when he took lessons from a vocal coach over Christmas in 2020.
Actor Leonie Mellinger was invited to Labour HQ to give the then-leader of the opposition training ahead of a major press conference on Brexit.
She had been given key worker status and wore a facemask during the session on Christmas Eve.
But the Sun reported she appeared to have travelled more than 50 miles from Brighton, which was under tier 3 lockdown restrictions at the time, to London, while the capital was under the strictest lockdown tier.
Conservative MP Richard Holden argued in a letter to the PM that it was ‘clear’ he had a ‘casual disregard for the law at a time when so many people were making such difficult sacrifices’.
Starmer’s use of Ms Mellinger as a vocal coach was first reported in the upcoming book Get In, which has been serialised in the Times.
At a press conference with Nato chief Mark Rutte in Brussels yesterday, the prime minister answered ‘of course not’ when asked if he had broken the lockdown rules.
The brief answer came as he left his podium, in response to reporters who were not from one of the three outlets permitted to ask questions in advance.
A Downing Street spokesperson declined to engage with questions on the claims, saying yesterday: ‘I’m not going to get into any matter to do with opposition.
‘The Prime Minister is focused on delivering on the Government’s priorities and the people’s priorities.’
Asked if Starmer continues to use a vocal coach, he responded: ‘Not that I’m aware of.’
Minister for school standards Catherine McKinnell told Times Radio Covid rules were not broken ‘as far as I’m aware’.
She added: ‘People were able to go to work and undertake really important roles and that was clearly a very important moment in Britain where an important public statement had to be made.’
Starmer and his deputy leader Angela Rayner were previously cleared of any wrongdoing after they were spotted at an event in a Durham MP’s office in April 2021.
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