Starmer voice coach travelled between lockdown tiers as Covid rule-breach row grows

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “This was a televised press conference to respond to the Brexit deal and the rules were followed.” Tier four rules at the time stated: “Residents in Tiers 1 to 3 should not enter Tier 4 areas.” Ms Mellinger took a selfie at Labour HQ on Christmas Eve, the same afternoon Sir Keir delivered an 11-minute address on Brexit. open image in gallery Leonie Mellinger was the PM’s speech coach for five years Ms Mellinger’s relationship with the PM, which saw her offer the Labour leader speaking and interview coaching for five years from his time as shadow Brexit secretary in 2017, was first revealed in the book Get In, a history of the Labour Party under Sir Keir being serialised in The Times. Speaking to the book’s authors, Ms Mellinger said she used “key worker” status to justify the trip to Labour HQ. “It's a sad and sorry tale of that time and I think this is more mudslinging on their behalf.” In the book, Ms Mellinger, who has acted alongside Sir Patrick Stewart at the Royal Shakespeare Company, described her working relationship with Sir Keir and how she became a close confidant of the then Labour leader.