I am a Labour voter, a Labour supporter and I do not regret my vote.

[CurlewKate]

However, I think that Starmer has been incredibly stupid and/or very badly advised over this expenses issue. He has done nothing wrong, but his behaviour is not what he led us to believe he would do, and I am incredibly exasperated and disappointed.

In my opinion, he should admit that he made a massive misjudgement, and agree to take no more freebies from now on.

Apart from anything else anything which allows people to say "They are all as bad as each other" (they aren't) is a distraction from the real issues the country faces. He should be laser focussed on repairing the damage caused by 14 years of Tory misrule. Not scrambling around dealing with peripheral stuff.
Starmer-say sorry. Don't do it again. And get back to work.

The whole lot of them are simply dreadful misery making envious imbeciles all these sound bites of broadest shoulders black holes are just complete nonsense. You all will regret your votes it will be a bloody shit show in 4 years. At a supper party last week few multi millionaires super rich already leaving and why wouldn’t you this country is a total mess

Yes 5 mins and already Starmer’s rating approval rating has dropped to -13. Quite an achievement.

Ironically, not many people are responsible for this. The turn out was just under 60% so only 20% of the electorate voted Labour. That's only 1 in 5 people registered to vote.

They won't last based on this sort of behaviour. They are not the Blair landside government but a party with a very shallow voting base which they are clearly doing their best to eliminate.

The trouble is even if we do tank due to the above what can be done?

We're stuck with them for a while

Yep i agree, dreadful optics with all the cuts they are making

I think there will be massive civil unrest esp after this idiotic budget coming so do stupid we were on way to recovery now this lot FMl

I stand corrected

No the other PMs haven't accepted clothes from other men this is a really weird way of saying it though

Why? It's true. Lord Alli is a man as far as I am aware? Yes it is very strange to allow another man to buy you and your wife clothes.

Doesn’t mean he wasn’t working class 🤷🏻

i am not a labour voter so no skin in the game and happy to be corrected as i quite like to have the facts

but i haven't read that his dad owned the factory…except in some newspapers and i would quite like the ‘truth’

In the piece quoted and shown by Fawkes - and others - Starmer Sr wrote about KS working in “my factory”. “My” could mean ‘where I worked’, but “factory” is not something you’d say if you were working alone in a workshop.

I’d say the evidence points to him being an employer more than not.

@Nordione1 "
No the other PMs haven't accepted clothes from other men.."

Well, Thatcher was dressed by Aquascutum.

Or is that OK because she was a woman? Is there significance in Starmer being dressed by "other men"? 🤣

Doesn’t mean he wasn’t working class 🤷🏻

Why does some of the electorate care so much about this when the policies could put us in greater debt and no growth means really difficult decisions for everyone

I can be interested in more than one thing at a time eastern

@Rummly Doesn't sound like an evidence to me-but hey ho. My FIL talked about "my print shop". He was a sole trader working out of a lock up.

Incidentally- if he did own the company, it wasn't registered at Companies House. So you can probably accuse him of tax fraud too if you like.

I personally could not give a tinkers cuss what his father did as a job!! I’m more concerned that thousands of pensioners will be freezing this winter, and don’t say o they can apply for pension credit if you are on the basic state pension of the grand total of £221.20 you won’t get pension credit as you are £2 over the limit apparently you are far two rich? (We have one of the lowest pensions in the western world) Also if they take away the 25% discount on single occupancy on council tax in the budget that will be another blow to widows pensioners and working single parents. And just to finish them off I hear there free bus passes are going. Also don’t be surprised if you will all have to work to the grand old age of 71 because that will be announced soon.

Just the title.

I'm asking why being working class overrode other concerns. Possibly because Starmer said it at every opportunity and the media ran with it

It's a con though to divert from policy

Because he cosplayed at being WC throughout the election, he was the one making such a song and dance about it in order to contrast himself with Sunak etc. Whilst living in a £2million house etc.
That's why it matters. He literally built the whole campaign on his WC persona + "change". Sadly, many people bought into it.

It is at best tacky and at worst dodgy. Some people can’t resist a freebie though.

I don't have much trust in them 'growing the economy'. I've just looked at the Labour Cabinet and can't see much to feel enthusiastic about. With the exception of Yvette Cooper and Ed Miliband there's not much experience. I'd don't see the 'statesmen' or women of years gone by. No one like Jack Straw, Gordon Brown, Robin Cook, Barbara Castle. Thoroughly depressing.

Do you not think that Starmer and Labour would have laid into the Tories with both feet if these freebie stories had been about Sunak, Mrs Sunak, Hunt and so on?

Is Labour now justifying itself only by reference to others’ actions? It’s all a bit pathetic really for a party that shouted about their decency and honesty.

The best indicator of Labour’s hypocrisy and, frankly, dishonesty is their vehement opposition to any WFA cut when in opposition and their decision to do just that immediately on taking office.

I thought you had conceded that Starmer and Labour are wrong to do this. In and of itself. I was rather heartened by this suggestion that we dont have to be tribal but we can see right from wrong. Rather than trying to excuse it "but the tories". Disappointing but I know it will be more disappointing for you I suppose.

I'd have no objection to Me&Em loaning their clothes to Victoria S to promote abroad. It's rather different to Lord Alli buying a Number 10 pass using a personal shopper as a bribe.

It's just a piss take. Lots of pensioners will miss the WFP this year and we are being told that life will get tougher before it gets better. All this whilst our government are receiving freebies left right and centre despite being on a good wage and more than capable of affording to buy their own glasses/clothes/football tickets/holidays/concert tickets.

Surely anyone can see why it's not sitting right with the public?

Oh come on. Owning a factory and registering a company are two different things. Sole traders can be employers, as can partnerships. Why would I accuse anyone of tax fraud because they didn’t start a company? That’s just silly.

And a print shop can be a one-man band or a giant enterprise. But Starmer’s dad wrote “factory”. Maybe Starmer’s dad was bigging himself up. But he wrote “factory”.

Whatever. It's clearly a lie though when Starmer says he couldn't sit in the stand for security reasons. Whoever was around him, Sunak was in the stand where Starmer said he couldn't be. However you cut it Starmer lied.

Sunak went to a match once, which presumably few people knew about in advance. He also wasn't previously DPP. Starmer goes to matches regularly - so easier for someone to plan harming him. He also needs heavy security for his previous roles, not just his role as PM. Not a fair comparison.