to believe Lady Starmer should pay for her own clothes and personal stylists?

I totally agree with what’s written above ^^

There was so much corruption going on with the Tories under Johnson, it was unbelievable!

Remember Carrie’s makeover of their Downing Street flat and the furore over their Mustique holiday followed by all the kickbacks and dodgy deals over Covid contracts for favoured “chums”?

amp.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/08/boris-johnson-no-confidence-vote-partygate amp.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/08/boris-johnson-no-confidence-vote-partygate]]]]

Honestly, if the current PM and his wife are representing our country at national events such as Rembrance Sunday or at international summits, among other world leaders, then I think they should have a decent clothing alloowance! The salary for PM is after all pretty poor compared with what KS could be earning as a senior lawyer and I think that sacrifice should be recognised.

The difference is that the Downing Street flat had already been made over recently when Carrie got her hands on it so that makeover was entirely frivolous! Theresa May was able to manage with what was already there!

Lol🤓

I think they should get a clothing, haircut, accessories allowance and work within it. They shouldn’t have it paid for in return for unfettered access to no.10 by a donor.

That’s not true. And even if it were, it’s the Labour hypocrisy that’s so loathsome.

Labour’s like some supercilious priest using his pulpit to rail against fornication and drinking and then being found pissed in a brothel.

I'm on the left, but tbh it was a rookie error to accept clothes. from rich and politically interested donors, especially after criticising others for similar. I'm glad they've backed down on it. It isn't even as though Starmer is poor-he isn't.

That said, all the Tories bleating should put a sock in it. Their party had their noses well in the trough, usually undeclared, from one end of their term in office to the other. Plus jobs for their mates and neighbours. And really big ticket items. And still lying about some of it. They aren't on the same scale, and you know it.

Unfortunately I did. Those are things I am extremely familiar with. Her approach to housing is, rather more worryingly, more clueless than her attitude to freebies.

They are all the same, busy lining their own pockets at other people's expense.

Well it wasn’t a very good guesstimate was it? I mean, she could have looked on Air B and B to see what a luxury three bed apartment would cost at that time of year. The actual cost of one night is likely to be at least the cost of what she was claiming for five.

I do hope you feel better after that rant @Buildingthefuture. Obviously any price she put on the loaned apartment was a guesstimate because it’s not commercially available. Presumably you didn’t bother with the majority of the interview that dealt with housing and employment policy?

It is not a political lens it’s a “I’m not an idiot” lens. She claimed she “paid for” her holiday to New York. Other than the accommodation of course. Which was a £2.5m apartment. In New York. Over New Year. She declared at £250 per night 🤣🤣 If you’ve ever been to New York or infact, anywhere, you would know that was horseshit. She claimed, in that interview, she went for “ a couple of days”. It was 5 nights. She also had Sam Tarry with her, which she didn’t declare. She then said today that they were not on holiday together, he just happened to be there. In the same apartment. You don’t need to be a MN regular to call bullshit on that one!
She also declared the clothes that Lord Ali bought her as “general expenses” so for all her talk of “transparency” hasn’t been transparent at all. It’s such awful bullshit I was embarrassed for her.

I think we must have been watching different interviews. Amazing how much the political lens of the viewer can change things, isn’t it?

Perhaps we were watching different interviews? Your username is apt because my toes absolutely curled at her reponses. What on earth does being “ working class” and needing support to campaign for her position have to do with accepting free clothes or free holidays? How many other “working class” people need or receive free clothes or free holidays to do their job? I am working class with a proper northern accent (before anyone says that is why I object) but I found her absolutely mortifying this morning.
Simply trotting out the phrases “working class” and “transparent” doesn’t, in anyway, negate the fact that she has been exposed as a grabby, grubby individual. No better than all those she has heckled before.

The Tories are the opposition - it's their job to demand an investigation. Rayner's team could have avoided this extremely humiliating debacle by adequately addressing questions when they were raised. They failed to do so hence this is the result. Very simple.

The Telegraph can reveal that the Conservatives have written to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, seeking an investigation.

Well, they would, wouldn’t they? I expect it will go the same way as James Daley’s insistence on two pointless Manchester police investigations. Rayner really does annoy Tories for some reason.

No doubt an 'oversight' or she was 'wrongly advised' by her team or any one of a number of other excuses that Starmer has already used when he repeatedly failed to declare things in the past.

One would hope the new story about Rayner hiring a publicly-funded photographer is a bad joke.

Having met Lady Starmer at two work-related dinner events, I am not surprised at the negativity she is attracting. DH had the misfortune of working closely with Keir Starmer on one project, the less said about that, the better.

Oh well:

The deputy prime minister didn’t declare that Sam Tarry, then MP for Ilford South, accompanied her at Manhattan apartment but tells the BBC she has been “transparent”.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/angela-rayner-failed-declare-donor-trip-h0cpfphjr

Standards commissioner urged to investigate Rayner over Lord Alli’s apartment donation. Conservatives write to Daniel Greenberg claiming House of Commons’ code of conduct may have been breached by Deputy Prime Minister.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/22/angela-rayner-parliamentary-standard-commissioner-lord-alli/

Blair used him for years so it's hardly unexpected.

I’m not in the least embarrassed. She did an excellent interview this morning. Answered every question clearly and to the point, explained policy, refused very pleasantly not to be bullied and didn’t lie. I’m proud of her. How anyone can accuse her of arrogance and hypocrisy after the government we’ve had for the last five years is beyond me.

I'm a lightweight Tory, so I will keep my trap shut very tight.

The sheer arrogance and hypocrisy of the woman is unbelievable. Literally every time she opens her mouth it's a disaster. Utterly embarassing for the Labour Party.

True though. Hopefully this will prompt a review of the system and some much needed changes.

So this is Angela Rayner's take: “I get that people are frustrated, in particular the circumstances that we’re in, but donations or gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time.” Not great.

It doesn't look great. The optics are appalling. He looks like a greedy opportunist cadging as many freebies as he can get hold of, and so does his wife

And that neatly sumarises it. Just because one can do something, doesn't mean one should. It's entitlement that is behind his tone deaf position and reaction. It's stupidity if he doesn't think that donors expect something in return, and arrogance if he thinks we donn't kow that.