Lord Waheed Alli, has he bought the government?

Lord Alli may well be a philanthropist, and help his friend who has a terminally ill sister (I know nothing about that) but it sounds as though he bought himself a place in the HofLs by his donations and gifts to Tony Blair, and apparently he has only used it to speak twice! I guess he likes being called Lord. All the political parties reward their friends in this way. It is unethical and unacceptable, whichever party is doing it.

Rather than jumping to the defence of the political party we support, we should all be looking at the practice of freebies and gifts, and contracts awarded or HofLs seats being given, and we should demand that these practices cease.
The whole business stinks and needs to end.

Lord Alli may well be a philanthropist, and help his friend who has a terminally ill sister (I know nothing about that)
Why is that being used as an excuse for him loading the PM with freebies?
What he does in his life away from politics is up to him.

maddyfour

Lord Alli may well be a philanthropist, and help his friend who has a terminally ill sister (I know nothing about that) but it sounds as though he bought himself a place in the HofLs by his donations and gifts to Tony Blair, and apparently he has only used it to speak twice! I guess he likes being called Lord. All the political parties reward their friends in this way. It is unethical and unacceptable, whichever party is doing it.

Rather than jumping to the defence of the political party we support, we should all be looking at the practice of freebies and gifts, and contracts awarded or HofLs seats being given, and we should demand that these practices cease.
The whole business stinks and needs to end.

Before saying "it sounds like" for a particular person it's worth reading the wiki biography, and some other discussions upthread about contributions he's made in HoL and in the community, since this thread it to that point.

members.parliament.uk/member/3482/contributions

Lord Alli has spoken 42 times not twice in the HoLs and voted 1143 times. Please see above.

People think governments run the world.

They don't. It's powerful business and wealthy individuals who have the influence and make the decisions that affect us all.

That is my understanding too Allira.

Instead of all those donations, monetary or itemised being made to individuals why are they not made to the political party. Then individuals could ask the party for funds to eg buy a new suit, go along with their children to a Taylor Swift concert (probably be a bit of competition for these tickets). The PM coujd at least pay a contribution of the cost of his usual football ticket to his Party funds or the football team. The job I had when working for a Council I had specific terms that I couldn't accept any kind of gift. If I did it would be immediate dismissal. This was to ensure no corruption. Why anyone in government is allowed to accept gifts baffles me.

I’m not defending the ‘freebie’ culture at Westminster but - anyone involved in the corporate/business/sales business must be aware there are budgets for treating/seducing customers.

I stand by what I said upthread. The giving of gifts to politicians stinks and is immoral. Any support of this practice is supporting an immoral practice.

Iam64

I’m not defending the ‘freebie’ culture at Westminster but - anyone involved in the corporate/business/sales business must be aware there are budgets for treating/seducing customers.

Absolutely! And since DH was often involved in that treating or seducing customers in the hope that they would influence customers to begin to or continue to use/do things for his firm, I understand the concern there is about freebies being used to gain influence.

Mollygo - in 1970, i was PA to the owner director of a construction company. Part of my role involved sending gifts/cases of alcohol/flowers to the wives of important corporate clients etc . I was shocked but did these things. I absolutely refused to send cheques to the Conservative Party. My likeable, charming boss found it hilarious. He didn’t sack me but delegated this task to the typing pool. He then introduced me to important clients as ‘this is iam64, my socialist pa’

Iam64, with that experience, presumably you understand my concern about freebies being used to gain influence.

So you disapproved but sent the flowers, gifts and alcohol; you disapproved but refused to send the cheques, (to the Conservative Party).
Perfect example of hypocrisy.

eazybee

So you disapproved but sent the flowers, gifts and alcohol; you disapproved but refused to send the cheques, (to the Conservative Party).
Perfect example of hypocrisy.

The question is, would Iam64 have sent cheques to a socialist party!

AGAA4

In this case maybe he was being kind but there have been other donations for clothes, loaning a luxury flat to Angela Raynor amongst other gifts.
I just feel this one man is too involved with the Labour party. I know all parties receive freebies and it should stop.

Agree with this, all freebies should cease. Regarding donations to the various parties maybe there should be a register of ALL donations to ALL political parties that is published weekly, not hidden away so that only a few can view it. People need to know who is giving and how much, to avoid any favouritism.

It's not hidden, it is recorded and available for the public to view, however, I don't think there is any specific guidance for how much information has to be given. Lots of the donations are just listed quite generally eg as donation for campaign. People might find the link below helpful.
www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/registers-of-interests/

What's the difference between politicians accepting freebies and Thatcher lobbying with the Saudis on behalf of her son Mark? She certainly used her position to influence other countries for private purposes.

Yes, and she shouldn’t have done, but it was 40/50 years ago and not relevant today. We’re discussing the culture of giving gifts to parliamentarians today, not forty years ago. It’s wrong, it’s immoral and it needs to be stopped, completely. Just as it is not allowed to accept gifts in other professions/jobs, so should it be illegal for MPs to accept gifts.

Yes it was a long time ago but there are people who still think she was wonderful.

Dinahmo

What's the difference between politicians accepting freebies and Thatcher lobbying with the Saudis on behalf of her son Mark? She certainly used her position to influence other countries for private purposes.

Two wrongs do not make a right.

When an MP receives gifts there will always be the thought in the back of the electorates minds what does the donor want/expect in return

So, the PM and deputy pm have accepted some gifts, some of which have been declared. I don't think the price of his specs is excessive, assuming that it covered more than one pair. I also assume that Starmer didn't go to Spec Savers since they do not use the best lenses. I would also expect him to wear good quality, tailor made suits since he is now PM.

Anniebach

He loaned interest free money to a woman who is terminally ill, she will repay the loan when she sells her home

He invited a friend to stay in his New York apartment whilst she was on holiday.

He loaned a property to a friend because the friend son was sitting his GCSE’s and their family home was surrounded by
media and protesters.

Is it unusual to have several friends? I am sorry if you do

From todays Daily Telegraph. Sorry but I can’t turn it round for you to read.

I wonder why the Telegraph doesn’t spend time investigating Jenrick’s £75,000 donation from a ‘dubious’ company, rather than targeting a child - the PM’s 16 year old son?

Oh, that’ll be because Jenrick is a Tory … so let’s leave him alone! Whereas, Keir Starmer is Labour so he and his entire family (including children) appear to be fair game!

I have just read that this list of Starmer freebies was only the July declaration. When the August list is published, I do hope we will see that the Starmers paid for their own summer holiday.

He didn’t go on holiday Boz. Whoever paid for it I should imagine it was a joyless affair for his wife and children when they had expected him to be there.