That Starmer fella...

I think that's a good question, and I see your point.

yeah it's definitely ok that the Premier League are giving Labour MPs gifts while there are discussions around an independent regulator (for example). nothing to see there. no potential conflict of interest. nosiree.

also Starmer laughing at someone calling out arms sales to israel isn't a good look. the "2019" jibe doesn't really work when you find out he joined after (because?) Starmer became leader

The ‘no longer the party of protest line’ is kinda cringe and although sort of worked when they were in opposition, it doesn’t hold up now they’re in office.

The whole point of protest is to voice dissent against positions of power - which he now represents absolute.

More worryingly is how it feeds into the populist anti-rights narrative around protest being an illegitimate concept.

I am surprised so many people defend corruption just because the rules allow it. The rules also
allow the monarchy or the house of lords etc. that doesn't make it right.
Starmer would look much better if he could say: "Unlike my predecessors I can't be bought
so I have nothing to declare except for this free pen with the Arsenal logo because I am
such a big football fan."
Instead he gave us a list of things he considers absolutely necessary to do his job and because
he can't get the taxpayer to foot the bill he had to fall back on his network of surprisingly
generous friends.

Lord Waheed Alli
Accommodation £20,437
Work clothing £16,200
Multiple pairs of glasses £2,485
The Football Association Premier League £12,588
Four tickets with hospitality to Taylor Swift concert £4,000
Five tickets with hospitality to Arsenal vs Porto £3,000
Four box tickets with lunch for Arsenal vs Watford £2,160
Four tickets with hospitality for Everton vs Arsenal £1,800
Two tickets to the Euros Final £1,628
Crownhawk Properties £4,500
Accommodation for four people in Gower £4,500
The Jockey Club £3,716
Private box for four people at Epsom Downs Racecourse £3,716
Tottenham Hotspur Football & Athletic Co. £3,033
Five tickets and hospitality to Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal £2,500
Four tickets with hospitality for Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal £533
Arena Racing Corporation £3,024
Six tickets with hospitality for Doncaster Races (did not attend) £3,024
Morgan's Hotel Ltd £3,000
Loan of a house in Swansea for three nights for four people £3,000
Crystal Palace Football Club £2,862
Three tickets with hospitality for Crystal Palace v Arsenal £2,142
Directors Box hospitality for two people £720
Trust Reservations £2,774
Night's stay in hotel for four members of staff £556
Night's stay in hotel for Starmer and four members of staff £445
Night's stay in hotel for Starmer and three members of staff £396
Night's stay in hotel £73
Manchester United Football Club £2,690
Two tickets in the Directors’ Box for Man United v Arsenal £1,790
Hospitality and tickets for two people to Man City v Arsenal £900
Cain International UK Services Ltd £2,400
Two tickets with hospitality to Chelsea vs Arsenal £2,400
West Ham United Football Club Total £2,000
Two tickets with hospitality to West Ham v Arsenal £2,000
Swansea City AFC £2,000
Four tickets with hospitality to Swansea vs Luton £1,200
Five tickets with hospitality for Swansea City v Bournemouth £800
Saracens Ltd Total £1,800
Four tickets, with lunch and drinks, for Saracens v Bath £1,800
Global Media and Entertainment Ltd Total £1,800
Four tickets with hospitality for the Jingle Bell Ball £1,000
Four tickets to the Jingle Bell Ball with hospitality £800
Jonathan Goldstein Total £1,650
Four tickets with hospitality for Chelsea vs Arsenal £1,650
Getir UK £1,600
Four tickets with hospitality for Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal £1,600
The Football Association £1,580
Four tickets with hospitality to the Women’s European Semi Final £1,000
Four tickets with hospitality for England vs USA Women’s Match £580
Tim Benson £1,500
Oil painting £1,500
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club £1,488
Four tickets and hospitality to Arsenal vs Wolves £1,488
Watford Football Club £1,416
Four tickets for Watford vs Arsenal £1,416
Arsenal Football Club £1,080
Two tickets with hospitality for Arsenal vs Brighton £1,080
Teescraft Engineering Ltd £1,000
Four tickets with hospitality for Newcastle United v Arsenal £1,000
Matthew Moulding Total £937
Hotel accommodation for four people for one night, including breakfast £937
Norwich City Football Club £820
Four match tickets and hospitality £820
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo £773
Two tickets for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo £773
All England Lawn Tennis Club £740
Two tickets with hospitality for the Royal Box at Wimbledon £740
Just Eat £714
A ticket to the British Kebab Awards (given to a member of staff) £522
A ticket to Taste of London (given to a member of staff) £192
Mulalley & Co. Limited Total £700
Two tickets with hospitality for West Ham v Arsenal £700
SJM Concerts £698
Four tickets with hospitality to a Coldplay Concert at the Etihad Stadium £698
The Rugby Football League £618
Two tickets to the Challenge Cup Final £618
Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club Total £500
Four tickets and hospitality to Brighton vs Arsenal £500
The Royal Parks Ltd £479
Four tickets with hospitality for an Adele concert at Hyde Park £479
Commonwealth Games Federation Total £450
One ticket to Opening Ceremony and reception including member of staff £450
Practico Ltd. Total £385
Two tickets for West Ham vs Arsenal £385
National Theatre Total £358
Four tickets to see "Nye" plus dinner £358
Edwyn Collins Total £350
A gift of band merchandise, including original artwork £350

i'm sure i heard he had the highest expenses bill in the house of commons ... over what period i can't remember though.

surely he could just give it a year before milking the sweet sweet freebies just to allow his party to settle into government without any controversy, without losing his popularity rating, without being seen as a hypocrite, surely that would be more sensible. he'll still get his grift but just play it subtle kier.

to be fair though i'd take a free edwyn collins ticket in a heart beat. and vote for no income tax on billionnaires ... if a billionaire gave it to me.

Aside from the obvious corruption point, fuck me that’s a lot of social events. You couldn’t pay me to have a calendar like that.

Over what time period is it?

Wow a gay south Asian labour party member pitches in , cos he can cos he's an entrepreneur and made a mint. Wtf( this is what it's about ; people, read the right wing media , is racist )my punctuation ain't shit but if you can't see this so is your vision

I think since 2019

lol, lmao even
as well as the highlighted bit, suggesting that his son's "one chance in life" hinges on his GCSE results is a great bit

1 Attachment

That Penthouse in Covent Garden was surprisingly good value.

Penthouse in Covent Garden for 6 weeks £20,437
Loan of a house in Swansea for three nights for four people £3,000

The new government has done some really good stuff in the initial weeks including sorting the public sector pay disputes, scrapping the Rwanda nonsense, squashing the rioting (funny how that happened as soon as elected, can only imagine how Sunak would have pandered to “legitimate concerns”) mainly while on recess.

But burning so much political capital on the winter fuel payments (but isn’t that more about threshold too low than concept?) and this donations stuff (surely they could see that coming?) suggests a real lack of political skills so early on.

Of course they are also getting a media hammering on what they have done that is positive, seems almost like it’s a coordinated effort by the usual suspects plus the likes of the BBC asking questions that they didn’t even broach over the last decade and a half let alone the misleading crap about donations over the last 5 years that leaves out Johnson, Truss and May (among others) on the dubious grounds that they are no longer MPs.

They may have done themselves few favours but equally it’s a savage garden for Starmer, a savage garden

A ticket to the British Kebab Awards (given to a member of staff) £522

lol.

I really was hoping for much better from the incoming Labour govt.
To be bogged down in all this row about free stuff is depressing. To not understand that the right wing press will never let this go is lamentable.
Sadly, I think all our politicians view their privileges as rights. Hence the crap excuses for taking stuff. Have they not learned the lessons of the expenses scandal?

The stuff about Johnson is whataboutery. Ignoring that, he was likely the most venal politician of his generation, so he's probably not someone you'd want to be measured against.

In a thread where half the comments are 'they're all the same' it's valid to point out that they are, in fact, not all the same.

Starmer has misreported the value of his stay at the Mayfair gaff.. It's more like £200k. The lecture on COVID WFH whilst working in someone else's house is a developing story.

In other news, fancy that!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/25/labour-crackdown-on-non-doms-may-raise-no-money-officials-fear

^ Corruption Playing by the letter of the rules is fine as long as it's my team that is doing it.

Is that about right?

Can someone explain to me the corruption argument? A Labour Peer and Labour Member offers Labour leadership help, which they accept, and which Labour declares, according to the rules. There is no suggestion of a quid pro quo. Lord Ali is not a third party bidding for a contract. There is no advantage to him doing this. He's already a peer. There's no hiding of the help. There is no pretending to lose phones. Where's the corruption?

If you wanted to say 'this is a shitty look for a person taking winter fuel payments and bad politics' then I'll agree with you 100%. But bad politics and corruption are different things and if you want to call something corruption you need to provide your evidence.

Watching the shied core
Striking the basket, skidding across the floor,
Shows less and less of luck, and more and more

Of failure spreading back up the arm
Earlier and earlier, the unraised hand calm,
The apple unbitten in the palm.

Which is to say, why was Lord Alli made a Labour peer in the first place? Because New Labour were intensely relaxed about the filthy rich.

I couldn't give a fuck about any of this

or

If you wanted to say 'this is a shitty look for a person taking winter fuel payments and bad politics' then I'll agree with you 100%

Choose one.

TBH at the moment, the fact that this is bad politics is more my concern than the question of whether this constitutes corruption or not. I live in fear of what comes next if Starmer and co fuck this chance up, and as much as I have almost zero faith in them and think they are mostly objectionable little shits, I would actually much prefer them to succeed. The fact that they appear to have the political smarts of a recently run over squirrel does nothing for my hopes for the future.

"Guys, we're coming in hot on the heels of the most clownishly sleazy governments in living memory. How should we approach this?"
"Fill our boots with freebies and giveaways?"
"GENIUS, give that guy a raise and a Covent Garden flat to study in"

There is no suggestion of a quid pro quo. Lord Ali is not a third party bidding for a contract. There is no advantage to him doing this.

Unyet

It also emerged that the former Asos chairman was given a “temporary pass” granting access to Downing Street after the election

Why was one of Lord Alli's business associates granted a pass?

I live in fear of what comes next if Starmer and co fuck this chance up

I would certainly be more willing to hold my nose over the bungs/corruption/gifts/grifts if there was even a sniff of progressive policies to go with it.

But when we get our own brand of Trump in 5 years time because the man on the street says "But what did Starmer really do for me?", I really hope that people recognise how much space is being ceeded by this inaction.

Obviously I'd love to be wrong about all of this, but so far it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ...

Edit: oh, wait I forgot we're going to get GB Energy

"Guys, we're coming in hot on the heels of the most clownishly sleazy governments in living memory. How should we approach this?"

"Fill our boots with freebies and giveaways?"

Half of this stuff is from years ago, it hasn't all happened in the last 12 weeks. No one (the papers) cared because the Tories were in government at the time and it would've done more damage to them than to Labour.