Is Keir Starmer a total hypocrite?

Scheme was finalised under David Cameron in 2013, so why the fuss? it became part of the T&C's of his employment contract
The Tories came into power in 2010, had 3 years to change it and several other DPPs have benefited or will do eventually.

Plus Starmer wasn't even in politics back then, its just another tory smear.

Tories are so far behind in the polls and even further now that Sunak has been exposed as a millionaire tax dodger and investing in our competitors, that they will literally dig up anything they can on Labour.

There is a lot of nonsense on this thread.

Starmer’s deal IS a big deal because it’s the very reason many senior doctors left the NHS after huge bills and retired or went private.

Rishi pays the same dividend tax as you would if you had shares. They’re in an investment trust so he can’t influence them.

The pension cap was a bad idea because it punished the wealthy who earned it through the regular income tax route type jobs and were not rich enough to have a tax advisor or to shield money in trusts or offshore. Basically your paediatric consultant, senior GP, local solicitor, programmer etc. who pay lots into the tax system for others to benefit but not wealthy enough to be able to have schemes to avoid it.

So it’s a bad look (and I’m not a Tory voter or poor).

For all the claims of Tory HQ being out, I'm more likely to believe Labour HQ is on it because surely no one can defend Starmer who comes across as, let's face it, a dull, hypocritical gammon. Especially as the tax dodge was done by Labour and it really wouldn't do to let that info out, better try to bury it under a mountain of hyperbolic finger-pointing. I wish just one side could be honest for once 🤷🏻‍♀️

All MP's have the choice to pay 13.75% of their salary in return for a pension that builds up at a rate of 1/40th per year. This means that it will take 20 years to build up an index linked pension equal to half their salary. MPs currently get k£84, so this is an inflation proof pension of £42,000 at state retirement age.

Virtually nobody else has any chance of building up such a huge pension in such a short space of time. I worked in education through the "golden years" of final salary schemes. Even with 41 years service I get nothing like that.

It is breathtaking hypocrisy for any uk politician to criticise pensions paid to anyone!

Well he doesn’t have to take it does he, he could donate it all.

@Lucy I can’t find it but my political journalist friend told me a quote once which was something like Conservatives will stab you in the front but Labourites will stab you in the back or something along those lines.

He's a back-stabbing Tory stooge. Sabotaged Corbyn. Failing Assange. He's another Blair.

When compared with the Tory miscreants, no.

I'm amazed anyone is surprised. He's a Tory in a red ribbon.

Really? If the best you can come up with is a mildly suspicious pension scheme don’t you thing you need to think quite hard about your own ethics when the alternative is a massive cesspit of bollocks, lies, and shit.

No, it wasn't the Tories who dreamt it up. Starmer joined the scheme in 2008, when Gordon Brown and New Labour were in Govt. They instigated the system.

He didn't dream up this scheme himself, the govt of the day did, which was Tory/LD, under Cameron.

KS may have become DPP in 2008 but the scheme was modified in 2013.... more twisted Tory media headlines.

So that's good then...? Another reason to vote Labour?

And I'm not sure Labour are that desperate anyway, they are still way ahead in the polls.

@Louisianna16
I'm not a single issue voter. I'm going to vote for which party is going to do the best overall for society. I think if you want to vote Tory just do it.

The one that still refuses to define what a woman is, and is now desperately struggling to find a way to hang on to the trans vote, so as not to suffer the same fate as Sturgeon you mean ?
Capt.Hindsight strikes again.

The Telegraph is now reporting that he’s going to scrap the tax benefits for himself. Too bloody right

It's not hypocritical to criticise or want to change a system while personally benefitting from the system. At a system level, I disagree with the rate of inheritance tax - I think the UK would be a better and fairer place if it were higher. But I personally am not going to pay a higher rate while the extremely wealthy swan off with far greater tax free gains from lady Ma and lord Pa.

Ok so in that case let's vote for the party most likely to tax rich people more. Hmmm which one is that again?

Blair/ Brown/ New Labour were in govt in . The Tories were in charge when he left his DPP post.

Just to correct this business of the Tories being responsible for the scheme...

Pensions are aggregated at the time of retirement for assessing the tax. So say the value of the DPP pension is £300k, because of his arrangement, it would not be included in assessing whether Sir Keir reaches the LTA.

So effectively it’s still a tax break. Unless Sir Keir has no other pensions taking him over or close to the LTA, which is unlikely.

It was a Telegraph expose not a DM one. What I find so interesting on mumsnet is the second there is a slight query about the morals or ethics of the Labour Party, people are immediately accused of being Tory Stooges, and the whataboutery starts. It is possible to think that Boris is a cunt and think it’s off that Labour want to cap pension pots and contributions whilst KS has his own statutory instrument. And yes DC put it in place but you can’t possibly believe that KS objected to it - he has his own statutory instrument on it! (Yes point made twice).
OP I think it’s a disgrace, if you encourage investing in private pensions then the grey economy is better, but it shouldn’t be champagne socialism and one rule for the people we don’t like and one for us.
And to PP, rich bankers (assume you mean traders on millions of bonuses so comparatively few people) don’t need the pensions cap to rise, they have enough money to do what they want anyway so this really isn’t a vote swinger for them.

The OP clearly learns their news from Daily Mail headlines.

Yes lets see who else can earn £5m but only pay tax at 22% and no NI. PAYE will be paying both and at far higher rates.

So an overall tax rate far lower than a nurse or teacher but all we get is "oh look Starmer...."

Yes! 👏