Former police chief condemns pressure to investigate Keir Starmer’s office beer

Michael Barton says those pushing for action, such as Tory MPs and rightwing papers, are using policing as a political football'

Durham's former police chief has condemned attempts to get his former force to investigate Keir Starmer over allegations of Covid rule-breaking as hypocritical" and dangerous" and said there is no evidence the Labour leader flouted the law.

Michael Barton, chief constable of Durham until 2019, said the pressure on police to investigate was politically motivated. In his time in charge, Durham was rated as one of the best performing police forces.