Starmer has to wear suits, shirts and ties and smart shoes. Just like he would if he were a legal professional. My DH has a wardrobe full of these clothes for work. Seems Starmer could afford them in opposition, so what is all this bollocks about "he needs to dress for the country". His wife could represent British designers if she has to dress up but off the peg frocks are probably what she wears to work too.
This donor was given a security pass to No10. These thousands of pounds worth of items were not declared appropriately which is why it's all being raised now. And frankly where is the common sense to realise that accepting these items (in return for favours and security passes) when there is a tough winter ahead with rising energy prices (despite them falling 10% in France) and the screwing of pensioners, is politically idiotic and morally wrong.
His first 10 weeks have really shown what an untrustworthy, duplicitous person he is and the worst is yet to come with the budget.
In the FT today there are multiple lauded economists saying he has created a fictional straight jacket for the nations finances and hence the doom and gloom which is now feeding through into the wider economy. The heralding of higher taxes and reduced incentive to invest means more redundancies down the line (4,000 manufacturing jobs lost last week at Pprt Talbot and Grangemouth plus the unannounced knock on impact on supply chains). If you work in the private sector your pension is about to get raided (but not the 27% public sector pensions), and if you are an entrepreneur your CGT rate equalising with income tax means you take all the downside to start up and run a business but only 55% of the upside. There are many friendlier economies close by to set that business up in. This all points to a loss of jobs down the line.