The Prime Minister is set to "push ahead" with his deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
Prime Minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam said a fresh deal offered major concessions and gave Mauritius "complete sovereignty" of the island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a critical US military base.
The 77-year-old described the agreement as Africa’s "last decolonisation", telling MPs: "The British prime minister informed me he intends to push ahead with the agreement reached between Mauritius and the United Kingdom...We remain confident it will reach a speedy resolution in the coming weeks."
Speaking to MPs in Mauritius capital Saint Louis, Ramgoolam claimed the Labour leader had effectively doubled the £9 billion originally offered to Mauritius and weakened the British lease for Diego Garcia following renegotiations, reports The Times
The announcement was met with backlash from Conservative frontbenchers. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick wrote on X: "This is traitorous levels of national sabotage from Starmer."
Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said said: "It seems Keir Starmer has learnt absolutely nothing - and is still putting his leftie shame of our country’s history over our national security, and our longstanding relationship with our closest ally.
"He has the audacity to tell the British people they will foot the bill and pay for the indignity of his surrender of the Chagos Islands, as he isolates the new US administration by bending the knee to Mauritius and emboldening our enemies with his disastrous surrender deal.
"Starmer and David Lammy must urgently explain their epic failure of diplomacy which is putting out special relationship at risk while they play pathetic gesture politics."
It comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy was warned by his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, about China’s "malign influence" in the area. In a call with his Mauritian counterpart on Friday, Sir Keir Starmer also used the phrase, saying that Diego Garcia needed to be protected from "malign influence."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
A Sinn Fein minister has accused Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn of showing a “blatant disregard” for communities in the region after he challenged the Stormont Executive to reform public services.
Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said through his comments, Benn has become an “apologist for a Tory austerity agenda”.
Benn told an audience in Belfast that over many years, decisions necessary to improve the health service and other public services had simply not been taken by Stormont ministers.
Archibald told Stormont: "Hilary Benn’s comments demonstrate a blatant disregard for communities here and for our democratically elected political institutions. Neither Mr Benn nor his government have any democratic mandate here.
"Rather than advocating for the people of the north of Ireland, as his title suggests he should, he has become an apologist for a Tory austerity agenda which his own government has now adopted and which has stripped our public services to the bone.
"When Hilary Benn talks about ‘difficult choices’ he really means punitive taxes, additional charges and increased costs for struggling workers and families."
Concerned Labour backbenchers have admitted Nigel Farage could topple Sir Keir Starmer following a bombshell new poll.
A new poll by YouGov put Reform UK on 25 per cent, just one point ahead of Labour on 24 per cent and the Tories on 21 per cent.
One Labour MP told the Express: "I think it's more about delivering economically and in public service improvements for left-behind towns. If people's lives get better by the next General Election they will give us another term of office."
Another added: "I’m a little bit concerned. But it's all the Nigel show at the moment and seven months into power, after all the big decisions, I'll take where we are. If polls are still like this in four years I'll be more worried."
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he will not work with Reform UK in any potential coalition, but added they will not turn their back on "good ideas."
While Nigel Farage's party has been surging in the polls in recent months ahead of next year’s Holyrood election, they could struggle to form a coalition, with First Minister John Swinney saying he would never include the party in a Scottish budget and Sarwar telling journalists he would not work with them on an official basis.
Sarwar told reporters: "We will not work with a political party like Reform.
"But let me just be really clear, and this goes to whether it is an SNP politician, a Conservative politician, a Liberal Democrat politician, a Green politician, or anybody that’s selected to Parliament.
"If somebody has a good idea that can get the support of the majority of Parliament, then I will not turn my back on a good idea, regardless where it comes from, because that is the the essence and nature of devolution, the essence and nature of how the Scottish Parliament was supposed to be designed."
One of Labour's top donors has threatened to quit the party over Rachel Reeves's "crippling" Budget - the latest blow for a Government facing its lowest approval rating since the election.
Sacha Lord, a Labour member for four years, has warned that "thousands more businesses" are at risk unless the Chancellor changes course, and has urged the party to act "before irreversible damage is done".
"I attended your manifesto launch, I supported you in your bid to become the Government and I believed you had a deep understanding of the problems on the ground," he said in a letter on Tuesday. "Not anymore."
"I heard Labour declare itself the party for business and growth. I no longer believe that to be the case."
Lord - who chairs industry body the Night Time Industries Association - said Britain's hospitality sector employs 3.5 million people, and Labour is "threatening its very survival".
As many as 9,000 pubs could be forced to close this year, his letter said.
"These businesses are not just numbers, they prop up our high streets, our communities and our culture that we are famed for the world over," he added.
"If nothing changes, thousands more businesses will collapse, and Labour will be responsible... Chancellor, you must do better."
Ed Miliband has denied taking part in approving a solar farm linked to Labour mega-donor and eco-tycoon Dale Vince.
Shadow Energy Secretary Joy Morrissey had urged Miliband to refer himself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards Sir Laurie Magnus.
Morrissey had said: "The Secretary of State recently approved a 524-hectare solar farm in Lincolnshire, a farm linked to Dale Vince, a £5.4million donor to the Labour Party.
"The public have a right to be certain that this decision was carried out properly. So will (he) refer his conduct of this application to the independent adviser on ministerial standards - yes or no?"
Miliband replied: "I'm glad (she) asked about this, because I took no part in this decision and recused myself from it.
"And here we go... They've got nothing to say about the country - desperate scraping of the barrel. And let the whole house hear it.
"They oppose a solar plan, they oppose a solar plant that will put up panels throughout the country and give clean power to the British people. The state of the Conservative Party is something to behold!"
Reform UK is a "serious political force" whose recent polling surge would end with Nigel Farage as Prime Minister, far-left activists have admitted.
In an email to supporters after yesterday's landmark YouGov poll which saw Reform soar to standalone first place, campaign group Hope Not Hate has warned that Farage's party "is positioning itself as a serious political force".
The group also conducted its own MRP polling - which translates nationwide voting intention into an estimate of seat counts per party.
It found that the party could be just three per cent away from placing 169 MPs in the Commons.
The message reads: "When I got the results back from our latest polling, I'll be honest - I felt a real sense of alarm.
"We knew that Reform UK was gaining ground, but we didn't realise just how far they'd come."
In a slap-down of Kemi Badenoch's remarks on Friday, the group added that "this is no longer a protest vote or a passing trend - Reform UK is positioning itself as a serious political force".
"We cannot afford to underestimate this threat," supporters are told. "If their surge continues, this ends with Nigel Farage in Downing Street... This would be a disaster."
Hope Not Hate also claims that the party is "far-right", "scapegoats asylum seekers and Muslims", and "champions policies rooted in hate".
And in a last-ditch rallying call to try and "push back" against Reform, the email warns that the party is "accelerating" and "building a ruthless campaign machine behind the scenes".
GB News has approached Hope Not Hate and Reform UK for comment.
Elon Musk's support of Tommy Robinson was "a line I didn't want to go down", Nigel Farage has said.
The Reform UK leader was probed on his relationship with the Tesla tycoon by the BBC this morning - which looked to have come to an abrupt end at the height of the recent grooming gangs outcry.
At the time, and asked by GB News' Political Editor Christopher Hope if he would "accept Robinson as a member of your party", Farage had replied: "No."
He continued: "Robinson has been to prison many, many times for many, many things... He's got his own campaign. We are a political party aiming to win the next general election. He's not what we need."
Farage added: "[Elon Musk] sees Robinson as one of these people that fought against the grooming gangs."
Musk then warned that Farage "doesn't have what it takes".
But the Brexit heavyweight said the pair have since patched things up.
"He wanted me to go along a line that I didn't want to go down. I don't get bullied by anybody. I stand up for the principles that I believe in. Since then, we've had very cordial relations," Farage said.
Diane Abbott has labelled Sir Keir Starmer "terrified" of Donald Trump following No10's refusal to lay out the PM's position on Greenland.
Writing on social media this morning, the Hackney North & Stoke Newington MP said: "Starmer terrified of Trump. Refuses to support EU in Trump's proposed trade war."
Just last week, Abbott said the same in response to Starmer's failure to comment on Greenland at a business summit in London.
Sir Keir Starmer's trip to Brussels yesterday to push for tighter security ties with the EU has been labelled an "act of humiliation" by Nigel Farage.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, the Reform UK leader said: "That was an act of humiliation. It was completely unnecessary, but Starmer went along with it.
"I think the most alarming thing that came out of last night was the agreement to deepen industrial collaboration.
"Does that mean we're joining part of an EU industrial policy? Does it mean, in terms of defence, we're joining their procurement programmes?
"There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I didn't like the language at all. And the very fact that he was there discussing such things shows you that our Prime Minister is a Rejoiner at heart!"
Ousted Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth has followed through on reports that Labour is moving to target Reform UK with a series of swipes at Nigel Farage's stance on the NHS.
Speaking on GB News Breakfast earlier today, Ashworth took aim at Farage's suggestions that the UK could adopt a French-style insurance-based healthcare system, saying: "Can you imagine paying thousands of pounds for a knee replacement, or a hip replacement, or a hernia operation under Nigel Farage's plans?
"Labour's going to point this out... That's the Farage plan. Charges in the NHS. He's got a health system that checks your purse before it checks your pulse.
"If that's Nigel Farage's plan, Labour's going to take him on day after day on it."
The ex-MP and Labour Together think tank CEO had previously called the NHS Farage's "Achilles Heel" - and vowed that 2025 would be the year that "we shine the torch on him", The Sun reported this weekend.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is set to create a "council on Islamophobia" to draw up an official definition of the term.
The 16-member council is said to provide advice to ministers on tackling Islamophobia, with ex-Tory Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been "recommended" to chair it, the Telegraph reports.
The group will sit within Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), with Grieve set to be appointed thanks to his history of working to combat "anti-Muslim hate".
But it has already come under fire from Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, who has warned of a "Trojan horse for a blasphemy law protecting Islam".
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Downing Street has refused to be drawn on Sir Keir Starmer's stance on Greenland ahead of a "working dinner" between the British and Danish Prime Ministers this evening.
Starmer will welcome Denmark's Mette Frederiksen to No10 later today amid a fiery row over the giant Arctic territory - which Donald Trump wants to buy.
Frederiksen has insisted Greenland is not for sale, but the President has repeatedly expressed an interest in taking control of the island.
However, Downing Street has remained coy on whether Britain would support the US or Denmark in a dispute over the territory.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said he was "not going to get into hypothetical situations", but that the UK's long-standing position on Denmark and Greenland is "well understood".
Tory calls for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer's use of a voice coach during Tier 4 Covid restrictions have been branded "mudslinging" by a Labour minister.
Health minister Karin Smyth told GB News this morning: "I think what we're seeing again is more mudslinging by the Tories on this issue at a time when they were partying - and we've got all the evidence of that, and the sorry tale of that.
"Keir was working. Working was allowed in tier four in London at that time."
Smyth failed to say whether voice coach Leonie Mellinger qualified as a key worker at the time - but said the then-Labour leader was working to prepare for interviews in the run up to Brexit.
"That was a working event at the time, when we know what the Tories were doing - partying - that's well documented," she said.
Sir Keir Starmer's voice coach is reported to have travelled more than 50 miles across lockdown tiers to meet him whilst strict Stay at Home orders were in place, raising fresh questions about potential Covid rule breaches.
Leonie Mellinger, an actress and communications coach, made the journey from Brighton to London on Christmas Eve 2020 when the capital was under Tier 4 restrictions.
The Prime Minister continues to deny any wrongdoing, stating "of course not" when questioned about potential rule breaches during a Nato press conference in Brussels.
READ LAST NIGHT'S TOP STORY HERE
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Prime Minister of Mauritius Navin Ramgoolam said a fresh deal offered major concessions and gave Mauritius "complete sovereignty" of the island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a critical US military base.
The 77-year-old described the agreement as Africa’s "last decolonisation", telling MPs: "The British prime minister informed me he intends to push ahead with the agreement reached between Mauritius and the United Kingdom...We remain confident it will reach a speedy resolution in the coming weeks."
Speaking to MPs in Mauritius capital Saint Louis, Ramgoolam claimed the Labour leader had effectively doubled the £9 billion originally offered to Mauritius and weakened the British lease for Diego Garcia following renegotiations, reports The Times
The announcement was met with backlash from Conservative frontbenchers. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick wrote on X: "This is traitorous levels of national sabotage from Starmer."
Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said said: "It seems Keir Starmer has learnt absolutely nothing - and is still putting his leftie shame of our country’s history over our national security, and our longstanding relationship with our closest ally.
"He has the audacity to tell the British people they will foot the bill and pay for the indignity of his surrender of the Chagos Islands, as he isolates the new US administration by bending the knee to Mauritius and emboldening our enemies with his disastrous surrender deal.
"Starmer and David Lammy must urgently explain their epic failure of diplomacy which is putting out special relationship at risk while they play pathetic gesture politics."
It comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy was warned by his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, about China’s "malign influence" in the area. In a call with his Mauritian counterpart on Friday, Sir Keir Starmer also used the phrase, saying that Diego Garcia needed to be protected from "malign influence."
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
Labour accused of showing “blatant disregard” towards Northern Ireland in scathing rant
A Sinn Fein minister has accused Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn of showing a “blatant disregard” for communities in the region after he challenged the Stormont Executive to reform public services.
Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said through his comments, Benn has become an “apologist for a Tory austerity agenda”.
Benn told an audience in Belfast that over many years, decisions necessary to improve the health service and other public services had simply not been taken by Stormont ministers.
Archibald told Stormont: "Hilary Benn’s comments demonstrate a blatant disregard for communities here and for our democratically elected political institutions. Neither Mr Benn nor his government have any democratic mandate here.
"Rather than advocating for the people of the north of Ireland, as his title suggests he should, he has become an apologist for a Tory austerity agenda which his own government has now adopted and which has stripped our public services to the bone.
"When Hilary Benn talks about ‘difficult choices’ he really means punitive taxes, additional charges and increased costs for struggling workers and families."
Starmer issued warning from backbenchers over Farage threat
Concerned Labour backbenchers have admitted Nigel Farage could topple Sir Keir Starmer following a bombshell new poll.
A new poll by YouGov put Reform UK on 25 per cent, just one point ahead of Labour on 24 per cent and the Tories on 21 per cent.
One Labour MP told the Express: "I think it's more about delivering economically and in public service improvements for left-behind towns. If people's lives get better by the next General Election they will give us another term of office."
Another added: "I’m a little bit concerned. But it's all the Nigel show at the moment and seven months into power, after all the big decisions, I'll take where we are. If polls are still like this in four years I'll be more worried."
Anas Sarwar rules out Reform UK coalition but says Scottish Labour is 'open to good ideas'
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he will not work with Reform UK in any potential coalition, but added they will not turn their back on "good ideas."
While Nigel Farage's party has been surging in the polls in recent months ahead of next year’s Holyrood election, they could struggle to form a coalition, with First Minister John Swinney saying he would never include the party in a Scottish budget and Sarwar telling journalists he would not work with them on an official basis.
Sarwar told reporters: "We will not work with a political party like Reform.
"But let me just be really clear, and this goes to whether it is an SNP politician, a Conservative politician, a Liberal Democrat politician, a Green politician, or anybody that’s selected to Parliament.
"If somebody has a good idea that can get the support of the majority of Parliament, then I will not turn my back on a good idea, regardless where it comes from, because that is the the essence and nature of devolution, the essence and nature of how the Scottish Parliament was supposed to be designed."
Labour’s top donor threatens to QUIT party over Rachel Reeves ‘crippling’ budget' - ‘Act before irreversible damage is done!’
One of Labour's top donors has threatened to quit the party over Rachel Reeves's "crippling" Budget - the latest blow for a Government facing its lowest approval rating since the election.
Sacha Lord, a Labour member for four years, has warned that "thousands more businesses" are at risk unless the Chancellor changes course, and has urged the party to act "before irreversible damage is done".
"I attended your manifesto launch, I supported you in your bid to become the Government and I believed you had a deep understanding of the problems on the ground," he said in a letter on Tuesday. "Not anymore."
"I heard Labour declare itself the party for business and growth. I no longer believe that to be the case."
Lord - who chairs industry body the Night Time Industries Association - said Britain's hospitality sector employs 3.5 million people, and Labour is "threatening its very survival".
As many as 9,000 pubs could be forced to close this year, his letter said.
"These businesses are not just numbers, they prop up our high streets, our communities and our culture that we are famed for the world over," he added.
"If nothing changes, thousands more businesses will collapse, and Labour will be responsible... Chancellor, you must do better."
Miliband claims he 'took no part' in approving Labour donor-linked solar farm in fiery clash with shadow counterpart
Ed Miliband has denied taking part in approving a solar farm linked to Labour mega-donor and eco-tycoon Dale Vince.
Shadow Energy Secretary Joy Morrissey had urged Miliband to refer himself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards Sir Laurie Magnus.
Morrissey had said: "The Secretary of State recently approved a 524-hectare solar farm in Lincolnshire, a farm linked to Dale Vince, a £5.4million donor to the Labour Party.
"The public have a right to be certain that this decision was carried out properly. So will (he) refer his conduct of this application to the independent adviser on ministerial standards - yes or no?"
Miliband replied: "I'm glad (she) asked about this, because I took no part in this decision and recused myself from it.
"And here we go... They've got nothing to say about the country - desperate scraping of the barrel. And let the whole house hear it.
"They oppose a solar plan, they oppose a solar plant that will put up panels throughout the country and give clean power to the British people. The state of the Conservative Party is something to behold!"
From earlier: Left-wing activists panic over Reform UK surge and brand Farage's party 'far-right' in alarmist email
Reform UK is a "serious political force" whose recent polling surge would end with Nigel Farage as Prime Minister, far-left activists have admitted.
In an email to supporters after yesterday's landmark YouGov poll which saw Reform soar to standalone first place, campaign group Hope Not Hate has warned that Farage's party "is positioning itself as a serious political force".
The group also conducted its own MRP polling - which translates nationwide voting intention into an estimate of seat counts per party.
It found that the party could be just three per cent away from placing 169 MPs in the Commons.
The message reads: "When I got the results back from our latest polling, I'll be honest - I felt a real sense of alarm.
"We knew that Reform UK was gaining ground, but we didn't realise just how far they'd come."
In a slap-down of Kemi Badenoch's remarks on Friday, the group added that "this is no longer a protest vote or a passing trend - Reform UK is positioning itself as a serious political force".
"We cannot afford to underestimate this threat," supporters are told. "If their surge continues, this ends with Nigel Farage in Downing Street... This would be a disaster."
Hope Not Hate also claims that the party is "far-right", "scapegoats asylum seekers and Muslims", and "champions policies rooted in hate".
And in a last-ditch rallying call to try and "push back" against Reform, the email warns that the party is "accelerating" and "building a ruthless campaign machine behind the scenes".
GB News has approached Hope Not Hate and Reform UK for comment.
Farage: Tommy Robinson 'was a line I didn't want to go down' - but Musk and I now have 'very cordial relations'
Elon Musk's support of Tommy Robinson was "a line I didn't want to go down", Nigel Farage has said.
The Reform UK leader was probed on his relationship with the Tesla tycoon by the BBC this morning - which looked to have come to an abrupt end at the height of the recent grooming gangs outcry.
At the time, and asked by GB News' Political Editor Christopher Hope if he would "accept Robinson as a member of your party", Farage had replied: "No."
He continued: "Robinson has been to prison many, many times for many, many things... He's got his own campaign. We are a political party aiming to win the next general election. He's not what we need."
Farage added: "[Elon Musk] sees Robinson as one of these people that fought against the grooming gangs."
Musk then warned that Farage "doesn't have what it takes".
But the Brexit heavyweight said the pair have since patched things up.
"He wanted me to go along a line that I didn't want to go down. I don't get bullied by anybody. I stand up for the principles that I believe in. Since then, we've had very cordial relations," Farage said.
Diane Abbott AGAIN claims Starmer 'terrified' of Trump in another swipe at party leader
Diane Abbott has labelled Sir Keir Starmer "terrified" of Donald Trump following No10's refusal to lay out the PM's position on Greenland.
Writing on social media this morning, the Hackney North & Stoke Newington MP said: "Starmer terrified of Trump. Refuses to support EU in Trump's proposed trade war."
Just last week, Abbott said the same in response to Starmer's failure to comment on Greenland at a business summit in London.
'Rejoiner' Starmer's Brussels trip labelled 'an act of humiliation' by furious Farage
Sir Keir Starmer's trip to Brussels yesterday to push for tighter security ties with the EU has been labelled an "act of humiliation" by Nigel Farage.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, the Reform UK leader said: "That was an act of humiliation. It was completely unnecessary, but Starmer went along with it.
"I think the most alarming thing that came out of last night was the agreement to deepen industrial collaboration.
"Does that mean we're joining part of an EU industrial policy? Does it mean, in terms of defence, we're joining their procurement programmes?
"There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I didn't like the language at all. And the very fact that he was there discussing such things shows you that our Prime Minister is a Rejoiner at heart!"
Ashworth kicks off Labour's anti-Reform attack campaign with series of NHS swipes on GB News
Ousted Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth has followed through on reports that Labour is moving to target Reform UK with a series of swipes at Nigel Farage's stance on the NHS.
Speaking on GB News Breakfast earlier today, Ashworth took aim at Farage's suggestions that the UK could adopt a French-style insurance-based healthcare system, saying: "Can you imagine paying thousands of pounds for a knee replacement, or a hip replacement, or a hernia operation under Nigel Farage's plans?
"Labour's going to point this out... That's the Farage plan. Charges in the NHS. He's got a health system that checks your purse before it checks your pulse.
"If that's Nigel Farage's plan, Labour's going to take him on day after day on it."
The ex-MP and Labour Together think tank CEO had previously called the NHS Farage's "Achilles Heel" - and vowed that 2025 would be the year that "we shine the torch on him", The Sun reported this weekend.
Angela Rayner to create Islamophobia council as major free speech row looms - 'Trojan horse for a blasphemy law!'
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is set to create a "council on Islamophobia" to draw up an official definition of the term.
The 16-member council is said to provide advice to ministers on tackling Islamophobia, with ex-Tory Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been "recommended" to chair it, the Telegraph reports.
The group will sit within Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), with Grieve set to be appointed thanks to his history of working to combat "anti-Muslim hate".
But it has already come under fire from Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, who has warned of a "Trojan horse for a blasphemy law protecting Islam".
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
No10 silent on whether Starmer will take sides on Greenland as PM prepares for 'working dinner' with Danish counterpart
Downing Street has refused to be drawn on Sir Keir Starmer's stance on Greenland ahead of a "working dinner" between the British and Danish Prime Ministers this evening.
Starmer will welcome Denmark's Mette Frederiksen to No10 later today amid a fiery row over the giant Arctic territory - which Donald Trump wants to buy.
Frederiksen has insisted Greenland is not for sale, but the President has repeatedly expressed an interest in taking control of the island.
However, Downing Street has remained coy on whether Britain would support the US or Denmark in a dispute over the territory.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said he was "not going to get into hypothetical situations", but that the UK's long-standing position on Denmark and Greenland is "well understood".
Starmer's voice coach row branded 'mudslinging' by minister as Labour scrambles to defend PM - 'Keir was WORKING!'
Tory calls for an investigation into Sir Keir Starmer's use of a voice coach during Tier 4 Covid restrictions have been branded "mudslinging" by a Labour minister.
Health minister Karin Smyth told GB News this morning: "I think what we're seeing again is more mudslinging by the Tories on this issue at a time when they were partying - and we've got all the evidence of that, and the sorry tale of that.
"Keir was working. Working was allowed in tier four in London at that time."
Smyth failed to say whether voice coach Leonie Mellinger qualified as a key worker at the time - but said the then-Labour leader was working to prepare for interviews in the run up to Brexit.
"That was a working event at the time, when we know what the Tories were doing - partying - that's well documented," she said.
Keir Starmer's voice coach 'travelled 50 miles' to meet him while lockdown rules were in place... but PM denies wrongdoing
Sir Keir Starmer's voice coach is reported to have travelled more than 50 miles across lockdown tiers to meet him whilst strict Stay at Home orders were in place, raising fresh questions about potential Covid rule breaches.
Leonie Mellinger, an actress and communications coach, made the journey from Brighton to London on Christmas Eve 2020 when the capital was under Tier 4 restrictions.
The Prime Minister continues to deny any wrongdoing, stating "of course not" when questioned about potential rule breaches during a Nato press conference in Brussels.
READ LAST NIGHT'S TOP STORY HERE
Politics LIVE
Welcome back to GB News' Politics LIVE blog.
We'll be updating this page throughout the day with live politics updates as they come in.
Find Out More...