When the Tories were still in power, Keir Starmer accused them of “sleaze, cronyism, corruption”. Given that Starmer presented himself as an alternative to the Tories, you think he’d be pretty on top of not appearing corrupt. Such forethought would seemingly make you overqualified to work in Starmer’s top team:
BREAKING NEWS🔥
Starmer breaks Parliamentary rules after failing to declare Labour Lord Alli, who also buys him designer clothes and glasses, bought designer clothes for his wife Victoria.
What a sordid corrupt couple! pic.twitter.com/9tAnf30FSW
— UNN (@UnityNewsNet) September 14, 2024
Crony baloney
Starmer said the following in 2021:
Sleaze, cronyism, corruption.
Seeing Conservative members line up like drones to vote to scrap the body that polices their behaviour was utterly depressing.https://t.co/vYtpszeouD
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) November 5, 2021
He was promoting an article he wrote for iNews in which he argued:
If I were Prime Minister, we would have an Office of Value for Money on behalf of taxpayers, an anti-corruption commission with real teeth and far greater transparency on how your hard-earned money is spent. And we’d toughen the rules so MPs can’t profit from their office and open the door to vested interests. That is a serious plan to clean up Westminster.
Interestingly, 2021 was the last time Starmer tweeted about corruption (if Twitter’s search functionality is working correctly – not something we can assume in the age of Elon Musk). We don’t seem to remember the Tories becoming less corrupt after 2021, so maybe he rethought his stance on corruption? His recent actions certainly suggest so, as reported by the BBC:
Sir Keir Starmer may have broken parliamentary rules in failing to declare clothes bought for his wife by Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli.
According to the Sunday Times, the donations also covered the cost of a personal shopper and alterations for Victoria, both before and after the general election.
The prime minister reportedly approached parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after being given fresh advice on what items needed to be disclosed.
A No 10 spokesperson said Sir Keir believed he had complied with the rules, but had since declared further items.
MPs are required to register gifts and donations within 28 days of receiving them.
Here’s the part where Starmer pleads incompetence:
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “We sought advice from the authorities on coming to office.
“We believed we had been compliant, however, following further interrogation this month, we have declared further items.”
The article also provides a bit more detail on lord Alli – the man who gave Starmer tens of thousands of pounds worth of stuff – the man who subsequently received uncommon access to the seat of power:
Lord Alli has previously bought clothes and glasses for Sir Keir, which have been listed on his entry on the register of MPs’ interests.
Most recently, the prime minister declared the fact Lord Alli had provided him with accommodation for several weeks, which is recorded as being worth more than £20,000.
In August, it emerged Lord Alli had been given a temporary Downing Street security pass despite having no formal government role.
According to the dictionary, a person who pays for favours (as Alli is alleged to have done) is a ‘crony’. Interestingly, Starmer has never tweeted the words ‘crony‘ or ‘cronyism‘ – all while subsequent Tory governments faced ongoing cronyism accusations. Given that Starmer was the leader of the opposition, you’d think he would have made more noise about that.
Labour is facing further accusations of corruption and cronyism too, as we reported last week. It’s also neglecting to re-nationalise our waterways, with privatised water often described as open corruption and a “national scandal“:
"This affects all of us around the country" 💩
Jo Bateman delivered a petition of nearly 50,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street – demanding the government stop letting water companies off the hook on sewage spills. 🌊 pic.twitter.com/X06jSOqrlC
— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) September 14, 2024
Starmer: Mr Incompetent
Starmer does have one benefit in his battle to convince everyone he’s incompetent – namely his genuine incompetence:
The fact the Labour government did not carry out a specific impact assessment on the withdrawal of the winter fuel payment from the majority of pensioners simply beggars belief.
— Matthew Stadlen (@MatthewStadlen) September 14, 2024
Govt knew 780,000 pensioners entitled to winter fuel payment will lose out.
83% of aged 80 or over will also miss out.
“around 71% – 1.6 million – of people with a disability will still lose entitlement”.
Disastrous policy. Still, no impact assessment.https://t.co/wAxlrkgB35
— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) September 14, 2024
For the sake of balance, however, we should point out that some are describing this apparent blunder as a calculated move:
Labour previously produced research which found that 4000 pensioners could die if the winter fuel allowance was cut. The reason Wes Streeting is refusing to do an official impact assessment now is so he can plead ignorance when the policy kills vulnerable elderly people. https://t.co/LENJcGjtSG
— Karl Hansen (@karl_fh) September 12, 2024
Either way, we all suspect that Labour is battering pensioners so it doesn’t have to make the mega-rich pay their fair share.
Corruption, in other words.
Allegedly.
‘Starmer’s hypocrisy’
Starmer and his Labour Party are presenting themselves as corrupt, incompetent, and nasty, and their reputation is tanking accordingly:
🚨 NEW: Labour has plunged to a record low with the @Moreincommon_ pollster, dropping to 29%.
🟥 LAB 29% (-6)
🟦 CON 25% (+1)Via @Moreincommon_, 10-12 Sep (+/- vs GE2024) pic.twitter.com/Pb85Q61Rjf
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) September 13, 2024
Support for Starmer's Labour has fallen from 45% in June to just 29% in September, meaning the party now has less support than Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.
Via @Moreincommon_, 10-12 Sep pic.twitter.com/Ut60slsw5o
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) September 13, 2024
Given the absolute shitshow that Labour have been so far, some are predicting we haven’t seen anything yet:
It will go lower. https://t.co/WavbzIguOf
— Sir Norman of Nowhere. 🏴☠️ (@Normanjam67) September 10, 2024
Unsurprisingly, Starmer is getting roundly shouted at by everyone:
Downing Street say the £76K the prime minister failed to declare was an oversight ! £76K ? An oversight! He only declared it because he was found out The trust of his position has gone Keir starmers position is now untenable pic.twitter.com/gZzOudw0FU
— Joan Anderson (@theblade113) September 15, 2024
Starmer won’t help pensioners with their winter fuel costs. Meanwhile, he’s getting help to clothe him and his family.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) September 15, 2024
The excuse Starmer's team is using for not declaring large donations to his wife, is that they weren't sure whether they had to declare them.
Is it feasible that Starmer would misunderstand rules that apply at every level of public life (a career he's been in for over 20 years)? pic.twitter.com/KIJv8DJFV6
— Carl Doran🇮🇪🇵🇸🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@CarlDoran13) September 15, 2024
Pensioners freeze to death meanwhile Keir Starmer gets free designer dresses for his wife 🤷♂️ as well as free suits free glasses free house free heating free electric free travel free free free free everything the political gravy train while the rest of us get austerity pic.twitter.com/YGvWleELJk
— ARTIST TAXI DRIVER (@chunkymark) September 15, 2024
Starmer has even been called out by former Labour MP Simon Danczuk – a man who for all his faults knows a fair amount about corruption charges:
Starmer’s hypocrisy.
Donations of expensive clothes to him and his wife; lots of other donations; some of them not declared; donor given pass to Downing Street; letting the donor party in the back garden.
On it goes and we put up with his sanctimony for years. Conman. pic.twitter.com/Sik1lzRjaM
— Simon Danczuk (@SimonDanczuk) September 14, 2024
This is only the beginning
It feels like a lifetime since Labour returned to power, and yet it’s been less that two months if you ignore the six-week summer holiday Parliament took following the election. During that short amount of time Labour has made it clear what they’re about and who they stand for. The public is responding accordingly; the question is how bad do things have to get before a coup starts brewing?
We know Starmer won’t U-turn, of course, because he only turns his back on popular policies.
Featured image via The Times and Stats for Lefties
