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

[LargeDeviation]

https://news.sky.com/story/starmer-faces-investigation-over-possible-breach-of-parliamentary-rules-after-labour-donor-pays-for-wifes-clothes-13215216

And Keir Starmer should have paid himself for his 'several pairs of glasses' and £19K worth of work clothes? On top of that there was £20K for accommodation for Sir Keir and another 'similar sum' on 'private office' costs.

Purely by coincidence, it seems the donor was given a Downing Street security pass allowing easy access to the corridors of power without any role in government.

And yes, Carrie and Boris Johnson should have paid for their wallpaper and hampers too, that is just as sleazy.

Or at least it appears to be…. I am sure we are all awaiting KS to share evidence to the contrary, should be easy enough. We’ll wait.

He got a pass for a few weeks. He's been a Labour peer for years attending the Lords and vetted.

When you consider what other people are allowed to accept (eg those in financial services), the behaviour of politicians is way out of line.

My DH is allowed to accept a meal if work is being discussed at the meal. That's it.

MPs shouldn't accept anything. They represent the electorate, not some person/business who's giving them freebies.

The behaviour of previous PMs is irrelevant. They were all wrong to accept stuff and they are not the standard for Starmer to measure himself against. He needs to measure himself against the comparable standards of today in other professions. And by that standard, he has behaved atrociously.

Exactly @2k2j - anyone in law or financial services knows these rules, we’re drilled in it continually. KS knows the rules backward and still he broke them. It’s not credible that it was accidental. It really is one rule for them and one rule for everybody else. So dishonest, I am bitterly regretting voting for them.

And yet he was still given preferential treatment above all other peers in the same position and unprecedented access to our highest security government premises. I wonder how that might have happened 🤔

To be fair to the poster you were replying to, not all of the reports fit your description either:

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/24513379.sellafield-worker-jailed-sharing-offensive-facebook-posts/
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/24506682.maryport-man-jailed-facebook-post-police-bid-stop-disorder/

@2k2j i don’t even think it’s about what KS is allowed to accept, it’s about what he should accept. There are no restrictions on what I can accept (I own the business) but what do I accept? Nothing. Anything that is given (hospitality tickets, hampers, wine at Xmas etc) is divid up between the staff, not because I HAVE to, but because it’s the right thing to do. If I can do that, I don’t see why KS (who is a fuck ton richer than me!) can’t?

Not good for Starmer or Labour

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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/

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 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?