To say I am fucking elated that this bunch of charlatans are on there way out

[Doyouhonestlyexpectmetobelieve]

My God I hated Thatcjer and all she stood for .. but at least I think she was honourable in her beliefs even if they were not mine .. but THIS LOT .. from BOJO onwards what a bunch of grifters ..

And before anyone says 'they are all the same ' .. I really don't think so ... At least in the 'lining their own pockets ' agenda .. AIBU to think this ?

Did you enjoy reading it?

I've only read the extracts published in the paper so far. I read a few pages of the unauthorised biography while I was posting last night (Saschka's link). You obviously missed it.

Unauthorised biographies are just works of fiction

So what if he went to see his daughter compete at a GDST event? It's hardly scandalous. It really is not a big deal for most people, only if you are fixated on VAT on school fees. I am fixated on families and particularly children being below the poverty line and the God awful state the NHS is in after so many years of Tory cuts. I will probably end up paying more taxes on top of the significant tax I already pay. I am happy to do so. Nobody called you a Tory. You have been saying that you have always been a Labour voter but are now disgusted with them and you hate the idea of a VAT on school fees policy. Your vote, your choice. Just like mine. Starmer is not denying anyone a private education. Parents are quite welcome to pay VAT and keep it.

It would appear so;
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13159027/Taxpayer-Labour-Thangam-Debbonaires-Arabic-lessons-MP.html

So?

Accepting hospitality is not against the rules for MPs, they just have to declare any 'gifts' worth over £300.

Tory MP Scott Benton got caught by journalists saying how he got around the hospitality rules by accepting tickets worth just under the £300 limit for declarations.“You’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295,”

Other freebies -
Oliver Dowden, Tory Deputy PM - five sets of free tickets including a £1,210 trip to the Chelsea flower show courtesy of Fenchurch Advisory, an investment firm run by Tory donor Malik Karim, as well as trips to Ascot, the Royal Opera House and Formula One.

Paul Scully, Tory MP - £1,100 worth of tickets to a Billy Joel concert from the Betting and Gaming Council and WImbledon hospitality to the tune of £1,560 from the oil and gas company, BP,

Andrew Griffith, Tory MP £400 ticket to the Ashes and £2,000 of hospitality at Silverstone
.
Oliver Dowden, Tory Deputy PM - five sets of free tickets including a £1,210 trip to the Chelsea flower show courtesy of Fenchurch Advisory, an investment firm run by Tory donor Malik Karim, as well as trips to Ascot, the Royal Opera House and Formula One.

Churchview
So?

I think the headline speaks for itself (August 2023);

Starmer has taken more freebies than all Labour leaders since 1997 combined.

I refute it whenever I see the reference to Starmer's private schooling because it is twisting the truth.He was a bright working class boy who passed the 11+ and went to a state grammar school where he stayed for the duration of his secondary education. Should his parents have withdrawn him even though he was fee-exempt on principle because the economics around his school changed? If that withdrawal would have been right, then what is the big deal if a very small minority of privately educated DC are displaced as a result of VAT on school fees? If it was right that he remained then drop the private schooling smear. That's all.

😂It was a slip of the tongue with Starmer. One the Daily Fail was delighted to jump on. Why would he want to lie about that? Now you really are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It's very different to not disclosing how many children you have from serial infidelity.

I found it very odd that Starmer said he had two sons recently - when apparently he has a son and a daughter.

Scraping the barrel! Some people even used this to try and prove that Starmer has a trans child. Because nobody ever stumbles over their words, calls their son by the cat's name etc.

And you must know better than to trust headlines! They are clickbait and often say something quite different from the actual article. You know, facts and all that.

I read about Starmer's holidays in Country Life - he gave them an interview.

@Clavinova do you know where I can read about But Jeremy Corbyn's holidays.
Do you know whether he had a Saturday job?

They really aren’t responsible for their parents sending them to private schools.

Maybe that’s what made their minds up?

Was it a nice read?

There seems to be a pattern;

Keir Starmer put £2000-a-week chauffeur driven car on expenses while head of CPS.

The future Labour leader put nearly three times as much on expenses as his CPS successor Alison Saunders, including first class flights abroad and a chauffeur driven car.

Sir Keir charged taxpayers £161,273 for the vehicle and driver despite living just four miles and a direct Tube ride from the Crown Prosecution Service offices.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/keir-starmer-expenses-chauffeur-driven-car-b2319779.html

YANBU but… whoever succeeds them has a job on their hands as it’s going to take a long ass time to get this country back up to scratch.

The organisations concerned had no issue with Keir Starmers hospitality, expenses or his provision of full facts about them

The same can't be said for all MPs - I'm remembering BorisJohnson's trip to Mustique and how frustrating he found it to have to answer to authority about the gifts he'd received.

StarlingsForever
He was a bright working class boy

He was a bright lower middle class boy - his father was self-employed and ran his own small business.

Should his parents have withdrawn him even though he was fee-exempt on principle because the economics around his school changed?

We have no idea whether his parents were asked to make a contribution towards the fees - Starmer has refused to disclose the details. Starmer's wife attended a private school in London.

It's very different to not disclosing how many children you have

I think it's up to the mother and child to disclose that information if they wish to do so.

@Clavinova how does one distinguish between someone who is working class and lower middle class?

What am I doing?
Why ask?

Churchview
The organisations concerned had no issue with Keir Starmers hospitality, expenses or his provision of full facts about them

The tax payers had concerns regarding his expenses - £161,273 on a chauffeur driven car when he was on a direct tube line - and the point of the Independent article was hypocrisy;

Labour has in recent months criticised the government for what it says is luxurious or unnecessary spending.

Other expenses in Sir Keir’s vast pot included a £4,914 flight to Hong Kong, a £6,808 flight to Washington DC...

May I say I am really pleased that you have spent your time away restocking.

£42m for 5 days at taxpayer's expense

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13362267/David-Cameron-accused-swanning-like-Kardashian-sister-taxpayers-expense-Foreign-Secretary-hires-42m-private-jet-five-day-trip-Stans.html

Yawn! His mother was a nurse, his father a toolmaker. They were both strong labour supporters and Starmer was named after Keir Hardie. You don't get much more solid Labour roots than that. More to the point though, why do you care so much? Are you a secret Starmer fangirl?😂

You didn't answer my question. Should his parents have withdrawn him on principle because his state school turned into a private school? It was common practice at that time when grammars were turned into private schools that children who had joined them as state schools were fee exempt. So what if Starmer's wife attended a private school. She will not be running the country in case you haven't noticed.

Johnson was clearly hiding the truth to protect himself. That's the only time he could ever show any discretion was when he was in self-protection mode.

Wow that's amazing!

My time away was spent visiting family 30 miles away - we went to a gastro pub for lunch, then spent an hour in a Neptune furniture store before having a quick coffee and driving home. Is that enough detail?