Politics

Keir Starmer makes dig at Dominic Cummings over Barnard Castle trip

Dominic Cummings was subject to a subtle jibe by Sir Keir Starmer today.

The Labour leader visited a brewery after pubs in England reopened over the weekend, dubbed ‘super saturday’ which saw thousands of people drinking on the streets of Soho and across the country.

Dominic Cummings had his claim he drove from Durham to a beauty spot 30 minutes away to test his eyesight during the coronavirus lockdown spoofed by a can of BrewDog beer.

The Labour leader posed with the drink – titled “Barnard Castle eye test” – on a visit to meet staff going back to work as lockdown measures are eased, with the hospitality industry likely to be one of the sectors that struggles the most as the country slowly reopens.

Social distancing rules

Police forces reported few arrests after pubs reopened in England for the first time since lockdown amid a warning from a senior officer that it was “crystal clear” drinkers could not sick to social distancing.

John Apter, the chairman of the Police Federation, said so-called Super Saturday was a “predictably busy night” that confirmed alcohol and social distancing was “not a good combination”.

After patrolling on a night shift in Southampton, he said it became clear drunk revellers would or could not adhere to the one metre plus rule advised by the Government when mixing with people from other households.

His comments came after images from London’s Soho district showed packed streets into the early hours of Sunday.

Mr Apter said he dealt with “naked men, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights and more angry drunks”.

He added: “What was crystal clear is that drunk people can’t/won’t socially distance.”

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