Oh no Rosie

[InandOutlander]

I'm so sad to see her go, she was the shining light within the Labour camp.

Ah yes, I spent 15 years of building a reputation of not caring about my nemesis Rosie Duffield just so I could unleash my 'endless vendetta' against her on a single thread.

I'd like to point out that I have also stuck to my original argument about her setting herself up as a moral arbiter while at the same time doing something in my opinion to be morally dubious. I haven't diverted into digging into her expenses or looking for other dirt on her and I agreed with what she said in her letter. I have merely stated my case and defended that case.

That's not required though. As has been discussed at length already.

Back to RD, so you re happy she took £10k in "election expenses" without actually knowing what she spent them on?
Considering she can claim back all her expenses for pretty much whatever she likes, why did she accept £10k?

Who do you think she could claim back election expenses from? The Labour Party? They didn’t fund her election costs.

Back to RD, so you re happy she took £10k in "election expenses" without actually knowing what she spent them on?

Election expenses data are publicly available, as I'm sure you know. This is for 2019. The figures for 2024 don't seem to be available yet.

link

I've included a few other Labour MPs for comparison. You'll see that all of them received donations in excess of £10,000 at that election (although we don't know about Angela Rayner because it seems she failed to complete her paperwork on time).

IIRC, there was mention in my constituency that the Labour Party was giving candidates in areas where there isn't a lot of money/ donations/ funds raised by events a donation of around £10k to fund their campaign. So it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that RD's £10k election expenses donation actually came from the party itself.

Considering she can claim back all her expenses for pretty much whatever she likes, why did she accept £10k?

This is a ridiculous comment. Where do you think the Labour Party gets its funding from?

Perhaps I should clarify that it's not your stance that seems deranged. I don't agree with you about RD but obviously you have every right to hold that opinion and say it. It's not that that appears so odd, it's the day after day of repetitious anger — no one else is so palpably angry about the situation as you seem to be. It's a strikingly different mode of communication and one that those of us who've been on FWR for years recognise as typical of... well, a certain kind of poster.

Yes, this strategy seems to aim to wear women down so that in time they just don’t bother engaging… it’s a way of silencing women who just get fed up of having the same arguments discussions, repeating the same factual points to counter theirs only to have those facts discounted/be ignored/mocked and the original, erroneous points repeated ad nauseam. Some women will simply opt out altogether, maybe even consider resigning as an MP. Which is what they want. Women’s silence.

My kids try this tactic too hoping that over time they’ll wear me down so that when they ask next time I’ll just sigh and say ‘yeah, okay’ because I’m weary of the lengthy discussions and justifying why I’ve said no. I don’t give in to them either.

And now I’m being called deranged, as well as being accused of posting in bad faith.

Because I’ve been engaging with people who have responded to my posts.

And I’m also ‘angry’ as well as deranged. Perhaps you should consider that it is a woman that you are using this language to dismiss. I wonder if the feminist section has any opinion on that.

You've said it better than me @CautiousLurker . It does come across as a way of trying to silence women.

No, the previous post said ‘your position was deranged’ not that you are. There is a clear difference between these.

But it is this kind of semantic word twisting that we are all getting very weary of… and feel is done in bad faith.

I’m quite sure the constituents that voted for RD were aware of how she was treated by the Labour Party prior to the election and still voted for her and wanted her on the ‘inside’ She’s still on the ‘inside’ but no longer shackled and can represent her constituents without being ‘whipped’ by the party.
Im glad she’s still drawing her salary. She deserves it.

Perhaps when you search my previous posts you might enjoy the thread in this section where I negotiated an apology from a ex-TRA to the MNetter that he had reported to HR for being GC.

My conversation with him was retweeted by JK Rowling, by the way, so I’m fairly confident in my credentials.

I think our parliament benefits from a few outsiders and I'm very optimistic that RD will continue to be an excellent constituency MP and use her freedom from party lines in a way that broadly supports proper Labour values.

Sadly I don't expect she's got a pair of Louboutins in the post from Lord Wossface but she'll be happy enough with that.

Oh well then, that makes your behaviour on this thread fine...

(For clarity, I'm being ironic.)

Quite.

It does come across as a way of trying to silence women.

I get that there are different things that wind different people up.

The reason for public anger over freebiegate is not difficult to figure out. We've most of us been through several years of tough economic circumstances. We suffered through Covid lockdowns that were much harsher than necessary, and were very angry at politicians partying during lockdown. We were fed up with sleaze. Even if we didn't have much faith in Labour sorting out the economy, it's fair to say them banging on about Tory sleaze and how they would be an ethical government was a significant part of their victory.

So lots of people are a bit annoyed to discover (Neil Kinnock voice) a Labour government - a Labour government - living like Regency bucks courtesy of a mega-rich peer while condemning pensioners to freeze. None of which was in the manifesto. Freezing pensioners might also note Starmer's enthusiasm for assisted suicide, which has been such a cracking success in Canada.

I can understand anyone thinking that an MP who crosses the floor should trigger a by-election. I don't see that it's some great moral issue, but it's a respectable position.

What I don't get is day after day of relentless anger about Rosie Duffield not triggering a by-election, which has escalated to arguing that her resignation is corrupt and that we can't say anything about Labour sleaze unless we also devote at least as much condemnation towards Rosie Duffield.

I don't fully agree with @noblegiraffe but I really don't think she's doing anything more than robustly defending something she feels strongly about.

Likewise.

Edited to add that I will re-read my contributions on this thread and make sure any challenges I made (to anyone's opinion) were written as intended. I occasionally let my sarcastic streak out for exercise... for which I make no apologies unless I recognise that it** got carried away.

** yes, I am denying my own agency on the occasions that this happens. I know it does because I end up laughing to myself as I type. Ahem.

Rosie's £93k pa job is not working for or representing the Labour Party, it is to represent her constituents, which, by all accounts, and on the basis of being re-elected twice, and in a never before held by Labour seat, she must do very well.

The basic annual salary for an MP from 1 April 2024 is £91,346.

Source https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/

Well, that maybe but Starmer accepting gifts goes back over many years, all declared in the register of member interests.

To me, she chose to stand as a Labour candidate as that gave the best possible chance of retaining her seat but then resigned from the 'party over expenses that are ALL within the rules... yet stayed IN the LPP over women's rights & WFA, which i would have thought are far more important issues than gifts given and declared properly.

I really don't understand her outrage over this.

It does make you look like a bit of a tit for smugly accusing me of being a TRA though 🤷‍♀️