A LOCAL Labour MP has said her leader is "doing the right thing" by saying he will stand down if it is proved he broke Covid laws.

Blackburn MP Kate Hollern said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s move is a "show of integrity" after he said yesterday that should an investigation into an incident where he was seen with a beer and curry in Durham find he broke Covid laws he will resign as leader.

She said: "Keir has chosen to do the right thing. This is about integrity.

“If Durham Police find that the rules were broken and he receives a fixed penalty notice, he has made a commitment to face the consequences and be held to account.

"The country deserves honesty and integrity."

East Lancashire's Conservative MPs were also contacted by the Lancashire Telegraph for comment.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry declined to comment, while Hyndburn MP Sara Britcliffe, Pendle's Andrew Stephenson and Burnley's Antony Higginbotham did not respond.

Speaking at Labour Party headquarters in London yesterday, the Labour leader said he did not believe rules had been broken when he drank a beer and ate a takeaway while campaigning in Durham last year.

He said: “I believe in honour, integrity and the principle that those who make the rules must follow them.”

He took a further swipe at Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has so far refused to resign after being fined for breaching the Covid laws he wrote after having a birthday party in his office attended by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Johnson's wife Carrie.

“I believe that politicians who undermine that principle, undermine trust in politics, undermine our democracy and undermine Britain,” he said.

“I am absolutely clear that no laws were broken. They were followed at all times. I simply had something to eat while working late in the evening as any politician would do days before an election.

“If the police decided to issue me with a fixed penalty notice I would course do the right thing and step down.”