Lammy

eazybee

The things that really matter are the integrity of the present Prime Minister, as the leader of the party that came to power through endless personal attacks on May, Boris, Truss and Sunak; every little detail magnified and repeated relentlessly.

Sturmer has attempted to take the high moral ground, and as such needs to show he is above reproach. He clearly is not.
Taking away fuel allowance from pensioners while accepting money to procure expensive clothes and accessories for him and his wife is rank hypocrisy.

👏👏👏👏👏

It is time this gifting nonsense was stopped. No politician and his spouse should be receiving donations for clothing, home decor, food or holidays. We like to think that politics in the UK is free from bribery and corruption but accepting "gifts" must surely leave the recipient with an obligation to the giver. The PM has left himself wide open to the same criticism that was rightly put to Johnson. He will find that voters won't give him the benefit of the doubt that they gave the cheeky chappy with the rumpled look . Starmer has to be above reproach on the freebies or anything good he achieves will be lost in media trivia.

biglouis

*I’d thought Starmer a bit different and one who wouldn’t accept loads of freebies, especially clothing for himself and his wife.Declaring something late is also very frowned upon in Parliament. We’re all being asked to tighten our collective belts after all, so what message does this send?*

We needn't worry about Rachel Reeves - I'm sure that's my raincoat which I sent to the charity shop.

Wish I'd kept it now, they seem to have come back into fashion.

I shall fret about that all day now.

eggplant

*Some of us are capable of thinking about more than one topic at a time*

Not very kind?

I feel worried but its not about wallpaper, glasses, donkeys, trouser suits or the Royal Family.

Has anyone said they're worried about this?

However, we mustn't let them all forget the expenses scandals of a few years ago although I'm sure Sir Keir is very mindful of that and the criticism levelled at Boris Johnson and his wallpaper.

Incidentally, although this does not worry me in the slightest, does anyone know if the wallpaper has been painted over yet?
Whitewashed?

I cannot lie, I’m disappointed with Starmer and wife, but I’m still hoping for more positive things to come and less of the “sleaze” and “smears”, some of which he does deserve.

Nevertheless, 3 months to resolve any issue simply isn’t enough time and I’m still feeling positive and optimistic! 🙏🙏🙏🤞🤞🤞

I’d thought Starmer a bit different and one who wouldn’t accept loads of freebies, especially clothing for himself and his wife.Declaring something late is also very frowned upon in Parliament. We’re all being asked to tighten our collective belts after all, so what message does this send?

RosiesMaw2

Oreo

It would make a difference to me! I had high hopes of this government and am disappointed so far.Yeah, true that there are important matters to discuss both here and abroad but how our political masters act is also important and I’d thought Starmer a bit different and one who wouldn’t accept loads of freebies, especially clothing for himself and his wife.Declaring something late is also very frowned upon in Parliament.
We’re all being asked to tighten our collective belts after all, so what message does this send? There was enough cronyism going on under Boris Johnson to last a lifetime so the last thing we want is more of the same behaviour.

I’m with Oreo on this. The Tories’ reputation for cronyism, sleaze and noses in the trough was what sickened me. I have no argument with people having money of their own but so many seemed to be out for what they could make and conveniently absent minded -remember “flipping” and duck houses?
Odd as it might seem, I thought Rishi was above that and while I don’t actually believe Starmer is fiddling any books this is a bad start.
As for worrying about Lady Vic looking like a “rag bag” - well if the rest of us can manage I’m sure she can too and of course she could .
I’m afraid Lammy just made it a whole lot worse by sounding as if the principle of an allowance for the PM’s wife who has no official status in this country after all was OK.

Well said Oreo and RosiesMaw2

Oreo

It would make a difference to me! I had high hopes of this government and am disappointed so far.Yeah, true that there are important matters to discuss both here and abroad but how our political masters act is also important and I’d thought Starmer a bit different and one who wouldn’t accept loads of freebies, especially clothing for himself and his wife.Declaring something late is also very frowned upon in Parliament.
We’re all being asked to tighten our collective belts after all, so what message does this send? There was enough cronyism going on under Boris Johnson to last a lifetime so the last thing we want is more of the same behaviour.

I’m with Oreo on this. The Tories’ reputation for cronyism, sleaze and noses in the trough was what sickened me. I have no argument with people having money of their own but so many seemed to be out for what they could make and conveniently absent minded -remember “flipping” and duck houses?
Odd as it might seem, I thought Rishi was above that and while I don’t actually believe Starmer is fiddling any books this is a bad start.
As for worrying about Lady Vic looking like a “rag bag” - well if the rest of us can manage I’m sure she can too and of course she could .
I’m afraid Lammy just made it a whole lot worse by sounding as if the principle of an allowance for the PM’s wife who has no official status in this country after all was OK.

eggplant

*Some of us are capable of thinking about more than one topic at a time*

Not very kind?

I feel worried but its not about wallpaper, glasses, donkeys, trouser suits or the Royal Family.

I don’t think many people are interested in/want to/understand/have formed political opinions/care/grasp or whatever words you choose, to discuss the more important issues which will affect our daily lives. It’s less taxing on the brain and more fun to discuss the people than the issues, and to let personal antipathy override reason. We’re all guilty to a greater or lesser extent.

eggplant

*Some of us are capable of thinking about more than one topic at a time*

Not very kind?

I feel worried but its not about wallpaper, glasses, donkeys, trouser suits or the Royal Family.

I didn’t intend to be unkind eggplant

Our eldest son is an Officer in the armed forces, we are used to feeling worried all the time.

There is no point worrying about things we cannot control, it’s easier said than done, something I know very well.

Some of us are capable of thinking about more than one topic at a time

Not very kind?

I feel worried but its not about wallpaper, glasses, donkeys, trouser suits or the Royal Family.

I think Starmer is starting to realise that being in the position of PM isn’t as easy as he thought it would be.

Oreo no sign of MP’s (of any party) tightening their designer belts

It would make a difference to me! I had high hopes of this government and am disappointed so far.Yeah, true that there are important matters to discuss both here and abroad but how our political masters act is also important and I’d thought Starmer a bit different and one who wouldn’t accept loads of freebies, especially clothing for himself and his wife.Declaring something late is also very frowned upon in Parliament.
We’re all being asked to tighten our collective belts after all, so what message does this send? There was enough cronyism going on under Boris Johnson to last a lifetime so the last thing we want is more of the same behaviour.

The things that really matter are the integrity of the present Prime Minister, as the leader of the party that came to power through endless personal attacks on May, Boris, Truss and Sunak; every little detail magnified and repeated relentlessly.

Sturmer has attempted to take the high moral ground, and as such needs to show he is above reproach. He clearly is not.
Taking away fuel allowance from pensioners while accepting money to procure expensive clothes and accessories for him and his wife is rank hypocrisy.

Cossy

GrannyGravy13

If the PM and his wife had not accepted gifts of clothing, alterations on said clothing and spectacles then they would not be in the position of looking grasping and greedy

The PM is a millionaire, he has a salary of over £150,000 plus expenses, his wife is reported to earn £50,000, yet they cannot afford to clothe themselves?

This is in stark contrast to removing the WFA.

Oh the irony…

The two things are simply not linked!

Have you forgotten so soon how austerity affected so many of us? I haven’t, have you forgotten Truss crashing the economy and so many having mortgages badly affected or May giving £££££M to the DUP?

Let’s concentrate on the things that really matter, like debates on WFA!

It would have made absolutely no difference to anything if Starmer declined or accepted “gifts” and donations.

I haven’t forgotten about Truss, it was a disaster. I didn’t agree with a lot of Boris Johnson’s actions whilst PM, including the wallpaper!

Perhaps I am in the minority, I may be right leaning but I do not think everything they do is right, nor do I think everything Labour do is wrong!

Frankly I am amazed that people cannot see that accepting £75,000 of clothing from a party donor (who immediately gets a No.10 pass by the way) is not a good look for a multi millionaire PM and his wife.

Beckett

Mollygo
But Starmer’s been very busy and may not have had time to register the gifts.
Better late than never.

Yet if this had been a Conservative you would all be up in arms about it - double standards it seems!

My question would not be about his being late declaring it but why he felt he should accept such gifts in the first place - he is hardly counting the pennies (unlike many pensioners)

Yes of course we would all have been up in arms if it had been Conservatives.

But this is Starmer we’re talking about, and he needs to be defended.

GrannyGravy13

If the PM and his wife had not accepted gifts of clothing, alterations on said clothing and spectacles then they would not be in the position of looking grasping and greedy

The PM is a millionaire, he has a salary of over £150,000 plus expenses, his wife is reported to earn £50,000, yet they cannot afford to clothe themselves?

This is in stark contrast to removing the WFA.

Oh the irony…

The two things are simply not linked!

Have you forgotten so soon how austerity affected so many of us? I haven’t, have you forgotten Truss crashing the economy and so many having mortgages badly affected or May giving £££££M to the DUP?

Let’s concentrate on the things that really matter, like debates on WFA!

It would have made absolutely no difference to anything if Starmer declined or accepted “gifts” and donations.

eggplant

I think its terrifying to contemplate what's going on behind the scenes. Putin, China, unrest in the UK, climate change, poverty and so on. Things nobody here has a clue about ( or if they do can't discuss)

KS whether you like it or not is heading a team to guide us through. And yet we are bickering about glasses and trouser suits.

£75,000 of clothing!

Some of us are capable of thinking about more than one topic at a time.

Our current PM and his front bench are on record as decrying the last Government for accepting freebies by the way, and there were multiple threads on GN agreeing that it was wrong!

eggplant

I think its terrifying to contemplate what's going on behind the scenes. Putin, China, unrest in the UK, climate change, poverty and so on. Things nobody here has a clue about ( or if they do can't discuss)

KS whether you like it or not is heading a team to guide us through. And yet we are bickering about glasses and trouser suits.

We are all entitled to feel bitter when he is taking perks off the pensioners especially when he can afford to buy his own clothes for the job. I never got clothing allowance during our working lives and I was always expected to look smart when attending meetings etc.

Well I just think with his usual style, Lammy has managed to make it worse for Starmer.

In this country we have a King and Queen on the world stage.

Of course there are more important things to worry about - but the accepting of such gifts is demeaning to the post he holds and his own dignity. It gives the impression that he is a grasping individual out for anything he can get.

When I worked as a secretary for 20 years, I never got an allowance for my clothes getting dirty, when I had to into basements at the hospital to sort out wheelchairs, walking sticks, commodes, urinals etc. etc. ready for patients to collect after they had seen the specialist. At the end of my working life the system changed and the job was allocated to stores operatives.

Calendargirl

Did Boris get similar donations for his wardrobe?

If so, it wasn’t value for money.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I think its terrifying to contemplate what's going on behind the scenes. Putin, China, unrest in the UK, climate change, poverty and so on. Things nobody here has a clue about ( or if they do can't discuss)

KS whether you like it or not is heading a team to guide us through. And yet we are bickering about glasses and trouser suits.