SIOBHAN Baillie MP has accused the Stroud Labour Party of 'playing politics with the pandemic.'

This comes after the Stroud Labour Party tweeted about Ms Baillie going for a Christmas lunch on the weekend within the context of around 90,000 people testing positive for Covid on Saturday.

Additionally, in the caption of the post, they quoted the UK’s Chief Scientific adviser Chris Witty saying: ‘Don’t mix with people you don’t have to.’

The Stroud MP has taken to Twitter to defend herself, arguing that this was her local work team, the pubs need the trade and that these businesses have worked hard to be Covid safe.

She also argued that it was a long-standing commitment and not cancelling bookings is a good thing.

Ms Baillie has accused the Stroud Labour Party of ‘playing politics with the pandemic.’

Chair of Stroud Constituency Labour Party Steve Lydon responded: "Stroud Labour's top priority throughout the pandemic has been to promote positive messaging from government and public health, encourage vaccinations and ensure people are safe and local businesses are supported.

"We are really concerned about the impact that our local economy is facing, and Stroud Labour has been specifically communicating across social media our support for local businesses in the run up to Christmas.

"We call upon our MP to stop playing politics herself and publically condemn the rule breaking by her own party which has caused such distress to local people."