The Irony.. PM's donation was for ‘son to study for GCSEs’

[JustSpeechless]

PM suggests £20,000 donation was for ‘son to study for GCSEs’ | The Independent

Sorry if there are other threads, but I did search and nothing came up.

“My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“But if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and it’s your one chance in life – I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.

So its OK for the PM to be worried about his child's "one chance" GCSE year being disturbed ...but he's not so worried about other people's children feeling stressed during their GCSEs by introducing the private school VAT during an academic school year.

I don't have a child in private school doing their GCSEs. And I know that there are lots of people who support the VAT and those who don't.

But I think there is a midline where lots of people on both sides of the fence agree making this change during an academic year is not fair on the kids in key exam years...and I am one of them because not all parents have a Lord Alli to step in to ensure their child's "one chance" GCSE year is not being disturbed.

For Voting:

Unreasonable - I am with Keir and I am not really bothered with other people's children's "one chance" school year being interrupted.

Not Unreasonable - I agree Labour should not interrupt the academic school year and introduce the VAT in September 2025.

The whole point that everyone is making about Labour MPs and the Prime Minister having their snouts in the trough is the hypocrisy of it all.

Better tell the journos at The Telegraph then - 🤷‍♀️

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/21/cabinet-more-than-800000-donations-freebies-this-year/

Unbelievable. Another blow to his popularity. Another stripe for Two Tier Keir. Another farcical pop at people who’ve striven to make private schooling a possibility.

Well, colour me amazed that the Telegraph got it wrong.

Why on earth is the kid being 'stalked'?

You'd have to ask the journos concerned. Maybe a little matter of his father standing for election and being slated to be the next Prime Minister?

Arsenal fans have the measure of ‘two tier Kier’.

How on earth are people buying this line. What public interest is there for a GSCE kid

Journos wouldn't even be camping outside Keir's door, they'd be following the campaign trail and turning up to scheduled events. Keir was hardly in hiding, he was trying to get all the PR he could, hence journos having no issue getting access

The dates don't even match up with the lie about needing quiet for 'his boy'

I didn't see you complaining about the threads about the Torys, are you just blinkered?

They are both as bad as each other.

I think there are a few people upset because they thought that there would be less of this kind of thing under Labour.

I think that's pretty much it in a nutshell

I hope they learn their lesson and clean up a bit - it’s not too late to turn this around.

It’s much harder to implement policies that will cost the people who are paying for your lifestyle even if it’s just subjective and not an objective bribe.

@Butterflyfern it’s interesting isn’t it? I noticed a couple of months ago a thread about someone walking their dog early hours in a park and them seeing two guys stealing ducks from the lake, putting them in bags, and should they have called the police, and then weeks later Trump starts the they’re eating cats and dogs in Springfield, which I hear, stemmed from a JD Vance tale about duck smuggling. It seemed too random and too weird a story for it to crop up separately and not to be related.

That's because you're misremembering the thread. The OP did not see two guys stealing ducks and putting them in bags, she saw two guys feeding ducks.

Later in the thread it is revealed that they are definitely not there to steal ducks and the OP was wrong to suspect this.

What £20k donation?? There was no £20k donation.

He was offered the use of a friend's flat, which on the open market would have cost £20k. This was during the election campaign period where the press and protesting idiots caused mayhem and a lot of noise outside of their house. There was no peace, and to leave the house his son would have had to pass through this rabble.

I don't believe ANYONE that wouldn't have done the same for their child.

Why would journos be camping outside a house when Starmer was doing press events during the campaign?

He would have been all over the country doing those, giving full access to press

The dates don't even match up. It was just a lie

There are plenty of videos and pictures with a very simple search that show this.

But if you'd be happy for your child to be subjected to that during exam period that's down to you. Remember, Starmer didn't set the date of the general election.

Stammer didn't set the date of the election - but he knew the date was a possibility so he should have planned for it just like he expected private school parents to plan for the possibility Labour might have won.
His 'boy' could have gone to the library like other children do. All high schools have libraries. Stammer is also very wealthy and he could have paid for an Airbnb if he wanted to.
Plus you have forgotten they were using the penthouse well past the date of the final GCSE exams so its misleading of him saying it was for these only.

The exam dates don't align, have you even looked?

Can you link to these journos camping outside Starmer's house btw

EasternStandard
Why would journos be camping outside a house when Starmer was doing press events during the campaign?
He would have been all over the country doing those, giving full access to press

Indeed -

He was in Worcester 29th May;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j1117b

Wales 29th/30th May;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3gg748j3e5o

Scotland 31st May - arriving by private jet!

Sir Keir Starmer has defended his decision to fly by private jet between Wales and Scotland to announce energy plans, saying it was the most “efficient” way to travel between campaign events.

https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2024-05-31/labour-leader-sir-keir-starmer-defends-taking-private-jet-from-wales-to-scotland

The North West of England 3rd June;
https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/24361221.keir-starmer-say-changed-labour-now-party-national-security/

Normandy, France 6th June;
https://news.sky.com/story/royals-and-world-leaders-join-veterans-in-normandy-to-mark-80th-anniversary-of-d-day-13148559

Peer gave Keir Starmer more clothes worth £16,000, declared as money for private office.

Exclusive: Donations worth £10,000 in October 2023 and £6,000 in February 2024 bring gifted clothes total to £32,000.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/27/peer-gave-keir-starmer-more-clothes-worth-16000-declared-as-money-for-private-office

Thanks Clav Good searching

What an odd thing to lie about

He clearly uses the flat whenever since there are earlier videos, nothing to do with 'his boy'

You'll have noticed I mentioned about how leaving / returning to the house was bedlam. And do you think he wouldn't have faced hassle in the library?? On the streets?
Try and work out why the dates are what they are... I'll leave you to that.

And he DID plan around it. He used a friend's house. Like a lot of use would. And he declared it, didn't keep it a secret or try and cover it up. No money exchanged hands about it.

Try and work it out.

Hahaha. Are you claiming there weren't journalists and protests outside Starmers house??? Seriously?