Keir Starmer alleged to have broken rules over party donor’s gifts to wife
Keir Starmer alleged to have broken rules over party donor’s gifts to wife
The prime minister made a late declaration of a personal shopper and clothes for his wife paid for by Lord Alli
Keir Starmer is alleged to have broken parliamentary rules by failing to declare donations of clothing for his wife from the Labour donor Waheed Alli.
The gifts to Victoria Starmer were not initially declared in the register of MPs’ interests, the Sunday Times reported.
Starmer approached the parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after being given updated advice on what needed to be registered.
The donations reportedly covered the cost of a personal shopper, clothes and alterations for Lady Starmer before and after Labour’s election win in July.
MPs are required to register gifts and donations within 28 days.
The Tories have demanded a full investigation into the Starmers’ links with Lord Alli, who has donated £500,000 to Labour since 2020.
[…]
Last weekend it emerged that Alli had been given a Downing Street security pass temporarily without apparently having a government role.The row was dubbed the “passes for glasses” affair because the television mogul had previously donated tens of thousands of pounds worth of clothing, accommodation and “multiple pairs” of spectacles to the Labour leader. There is no suggestion that the peer has broken any rules.
Alli, 59, was the youngest member of the House of Lords when he was ennobled in 1998.
In other reporting it did seem he was proactive in contacting the parliamentary authorities once he received advice on the donations. The spouse situation is tricky because his wife isn't an elected official or even a political operative. However I doubt the donations would have been made of she doesn't sometimes appear with her husband on official occasions.
Also the pearl clutching by the Tories is hypocrisy of the highest order given some of the stuff their members got away with.
Still it's not a good look and hopefully the party officials are making sure other ministers are up-to-date on all declarations. You don't want this to be the start of a string of stories.
I think in isolation I wouldn't care much about this. It still appears to be vastly less than the declarations made by other PMs and leaders, and much as the Tories want to make an issue of Lords being issued Downing Street passes it seems an entirely normal thing to me.
...but surely he knows how the Tories weaponise even the mildest appearance of nonsense against Labour (while they flaunt it with impunity) and foster the ignorance of, "They're all the same," to their advantage. This seems like the easiest bullet imaginable to dodge by simply not accepting gifts, and I'm baffled that he's imperiling all the effort to restore normalcy to politics by not doing so.
Honestly, I don't think politicians should be able to accept these kinds of gifts at all. The Tories are almost certainly worse and it is unfair that Labour is held to a higher standard in this regard, but at the same time I don't think that excuses Starmer accepting more gifts than any Labour leader since 1997.
I’m baffled that he’s imperiling all the effort
Lol, why? He got the job, that's all he was after. He never even attempted to hide the fact that he is just another maintainer of the status quo.
Alleged = self reported as soon as advised, it is a requirement.
Hardly an act of corruption. And considering, his wife is not in an elected position or working for the gov in any way. Hardly surprising, he was unsure of the requirement.
Tories are pretty fucking desperate to paint the Labour Party as no better than their own corruption.
Spose not surprising when they have little actually policy difference to attack.
Cool whatever. I’m much more interested in all the rubles collecting in Tory back pockets to be honest.
Hilarious watching Lammy trying to defend this earlier today.
I like how no one seems bothered that this guy is doing this purely to get access to the Prime Minister and the levers of government.
If this was happening under a Conservative government, you wouldn't hear the end of the screeching. Yet when it's a Labour government everyone is just like "yeah, I don't care".
Is it too much to ask for some consistency?
I mean, it did happen under a Conservative government, and Sunak defended his failure to declare an interest by saying that he wasn't privy to his wife's business interests.
It's quite possible that it's that very scandal that prompted Starmer to seek additional guidance.