Beergate v Partygate: Why Keir Starmer wasn't fined and Boris Johnson was

Beergate is the third high profile police investigation into gatherings involving politicians during Covid restrictions.

Each of the investigations, into Dominic Cummings' lockdown trip to Durham, Partygate then Beergate, ended in dramatic different outcomes.

The variation is a consequence of evolving Covid laws that were in place at different times, applying exceptions to restrictions and the changing police positions on whether to punish offenses retrospectively.

How did the law work?

A set of laws called the Health Protection Regulations were amended throughout throughout the pandemic to enforce various restrictions, including nationwide lockdowns.

They set legal limits on gatherings, but also provided defenses and exemptions.

At all times , a "reasonable excuse" defense was incorporated into law and the lists of examples given in the legislation were not exhaustive.

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The wording of the laws in effect during Beergate and Partygate reads: " A person commits an offense if, without a reasonable excuse…[they] breach a restriction."

This means that the police had the discretion to decide whether someone had broken the law or had a legal defense for doing something that appeared to be a breach of Covid on the face of it.

Investigators have acknowledged that the gathering which Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner attended in Durham was covered by a statutory work exemption, while the impromptu birthday party which resulted in fines for Boris John son and Rishi Sunak was not.

What laws were in place during Beergate?

At the time, "second stage" health protection regulations were in effect, which which drove crazy Gatherings of more than two people indoors illegal unless they were...