Home of Commons
A Labour MP has apologised and stood down from her frontbench position after admitting breaching lockdown guidelines.
Rosie Duffield met her associate in her Canterbury constituency for a five-hour stroll when he was nonetheless dwelling along with his spouse, the Mail on Sunday reported.
Steering in place on the time in April banned folks socialising with anybody from outdoors their very own family.
The MP mentioned she took duty for her actions and would give up her position as an opposition whip within the Commons.
The Mail on Sunday mentioned Ms Duffield and her TV director boyfriend James Routh had gone on the stroll at a time after they weren’t dwelling collectively and strict controls on folks’s actions have been in power to forestall the unfold of the virus between households.
The newspaper mentioned Mr Routh had additionally visited the MP at a property she was renting in Canterbury.
‘Tough scenario’
Whereas insisting the pair had noticed the two-metre social distancing rule after they met, the MP mentioned she accepted her actions constituted a breach of the steering on the time.
“My associate and I’ve been making an attempt to navigate a tough private scenario as responsibly as attainable,” she mentioned.
“I apologise that in that course of, we breached the rules. A relationship breakdown is tough at one of the best of instances, not to mention throughout a pandemic.
“I hope folks can perceive why I took the steps I did and know that I take duty for the breaches that occurred and for which I apologise.”
The newspaper mentioned Mr Routh, who is known to have labored on Ms Duffield’s 2017 election marketing campaign, had since separated from his spouse and was now dwelling within the MP’s London flat.
It mentioned Ms Duffield had checked earlier than Mr Routh moved in along with her to ensure the brand new dwelling preparations complied with the steering, which she mentioned made provision for the breakdown of marriages.
Ms Duffield grew to become the primary Labour MP for Canterbury in practically 100 years when she gained the seat in 2017. She retained it with an elevated majority final 12 months.
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds mentioned Ms Duffield had rightly taken duty for her actions and relinquished her position as an opposition whip.
“She was completely proper to resign,” she informed the BBC’s Andrew Marr present. “Clearly she wasn’t proper to have damaged the foundations, fairly the alternative.”
Citing the sacrifices that her constituents had made in the course of the pandemic, Ms Dodds mentioned it was “critically necessary… that everybody has acquired to stay to the foundations to maintain us all secure.”