I never thought I would see it, even The Observer, (and therefore, presumably, the Guardian) have given up on Starmer

I was watching Sky news this morning and there was a feature about the upcoming local elections, Sophie Ridge was out and about in Ashton Under Lyne and one man she interviewed came out with a stream of invective about Keir Starmer, really personal stuff, and I was at a loss to understand this level of hatred which is also apparent on some social media sites such as FaceBook.

I call being paid and not doing the job being on the take. Farage is good at that,

I was also disappointed when Starmer was found to receive gifts for glasses and clothes. He did declare it though. Starmer rightly agreed it was not a good look and gave an undertaking not to do it again.

A £5 million gift though, not declared as it should have been is much more shady and corrupt. Even more so as Farage accused Starmer of being on the take and not fit to lead- rank hypocrisy.

You are presuming it will be male?

keepingquiet

He isn't in trouble, the media just like to make out he is!

Indeed, the country will do just fine and dandy with the right man at the helm.

Wonder who he'll be after May 7th.......?

Yes, I remember what people said at the time Oreo. All’s fair though if Farage gets the same amount of stick, isn’t it?

Well Casdon you say that but…. I really did think Keir Starmer was better than that, and was so disappointed to realise he was much the same.

People can get exactly as worked up about it as they did about the Labour cabinet’s new outfits and glasses. No more, no less - I think that would be egalitarian.

Wyllow3

Yes, but the point is, he is legally liable for it to be discussed in parliament as a breach of the code. I get worked up about it because he's corrupt as far as I am concerned, hiding £5.000.000 - and I apply that across the board.

If you have any concerns for our democratic system, then it is a matter to "get worked up about".

Why? It isn’t as if he’s getting away with it, parliamentary committees decide on this sort of thing.
No need for any of us to get worked up about it.

David49 I came to the conclusion some time ago that political snouts in troughs include all of them.

As bent as a £9 note, pretty normal in politics, most are only in it for the power and what they can get , friends and self interest comes way in front of public service.

Corrupt for sure...

Farage knows the MPs Code of Conduct and associated rules and if not should do for goodness sake -he's been in and around politics for many years.

He was well aware Harborne had similarly given Boris Johnson a personal gift of £1million in 2022 and also of course aware of scrutiny and high degree censure Harborne's £1 million gift attracted

Yes there was annual inflation, but a £1 million Harborne gift to a £5 million gift is a steep increase in just 2 years which should have been obvious to Farage!

Farage is well aware that the MP Code of Conduct rules states all gifts, donations etc in the 12 months PRIOR to becoming an MP needed to be declared as he became an MP on 4 July 2024. He chose not to declare the Harborne gift however. But he did face scrutiny at the time for other "gifts" whcih should have alerted him. EG Farage faced scrutiny regarding his own gifts of over £30,000 for flights to the US. He dismissed these concerns stating "friends that are getting on aeroplanes will give me a seat...they're not really gifts are they?"

At the Reform conference in 2024, as Farage began his key note speech he pulled out a pair of glasses telling delegates "very expensive but guess what I bought them myself, how about that?'

At the time Farage was highly critical of Starmer receiving the gifts of glasses and clothing gifts accusing him of hypocrisy and that Starmer was acting like "someone on the take" that it was a "very bad look for someone who said everything was going to change" calling it a "political mess" and that Starmer was "unfit to lead". He said Starmer accepting those gifts was "unforgivable".

Starmer declared his donation form Lord Alli, totalling £16,200 for work clothing and £2,400 for glasses. He made a statement no more such donations would be accepted.

Well if the world was round and if the world was fair and reasonabl, apart from the issue of failing to honestly declare, Farage would admit:
1) his receipt of a £5 million gift from Harborne was "not a good look",
2) that he himself was acting like "someone on the take"
3) that he himself has created a "political mess" all of his own
4) that he himself is "unfit to lead".
5) Farage would admit that his accepting Harborne's £5million gift was "unforgivable".

But in Farag'es world, the rules don't apply to him. He sees himself as somehow exceptional- somehow elite. But then somehow he also likes to see himself as a man of the people.

Oreo

As stated on another thread by me, it was the gist of what I read this morning at 6 a.m on the BBC online news.They update things at different times so what you read now won’t necessarily be the same.

The article I posted was from yesterday, 29th April, so not updated today. I'm surprised that such important information was omitted this morning...

Yes, but the point is, he is legally liable for it to be discussed in parliament as a breach of the code. I get worked up about it because he's corrupt as far as I am concerned, hiding £5.000.000 - and I apply that across the board.

If you have any concerns for our democratic system, then it is a matter to "get worked up about".

All that’s needed to be said is that it’s up to parliament to decide if fines or suspension is needed.I can’t get worked up about anything Farage does, not being a fan.

As stated on another thread by me, it was the gist of what I read this morning at 6 a.m on the BBC online news.They update things at different times so what you read now won’t necessarily be the same.

Casdon

This is all I can find on BBC News.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5pr0gp3gro

That's the one I found, Casdon, I took the quote about the Commons Code of Conduct from it.

I wondered how many people would be willing to pay £1 to read the informative FT article. I, for my sins, have a subscription to it.

This is all I can find on BBC News.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5pr0gp3gro

Oreo

It was what I read on the BBC online news.

The BBC online news article states this very clearly, Oreo. Or perhaps you were in an alternative universe?

The Commons code of conduct states that new MPs "must register all their current financial interests, and any registrable benefits (other than earnings) received in the 12 months before their election within one month of their election

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5pr0gp3gro

Reform are claiming it was a personal gift to Farage but I find it very hard to believe that billionaires part with millions of pounds with no expectation of benefit from it... Apparently 'registrable benefits' include gifts that could reasonably influence their actions, words, or votes

The FT article says that the Privileges Committee could give Farage a 'serious suspension' from Parliament, i.e 10 days or more.

In which case a recall petition could be used to force a bye election in his constituency. The petition has to be signed by 10% of his constituents within 6 weeks of the suspension being given.

Now that would be interesting...

It was what I read on the BBC online news.

Oreo

Casdon

Oreo

Casdon

One thing Starmer does have in his favour is that he hasn’t accidentally forgotten to declare a £5million personal gift as required by the Parliamentary Standards Committee.

Not that anybody knows of anyway.
But he did accept thousands and thousands for designer suits and glasses for himself and dresses for his wife.It was legal as long as he declared it but I felt very let down by him for doing this, I thought he may be different regarding snouts in troughs but obvs not.

There is obviously no difference between accepting free suits and glasses and inadvertently forgetting to mention a political donor had given you £5m, so let’s hope the same level of parliamentary scrutiny and sanction, and societal approbation applies in both cases.

Am no fan of Farage but have read there was nothing illegal as the donation for his security was given before he entered Parliament.Therefore no need to declare it.

That is incorrect information, MPs have to declare benefits received in the 12 months before they were elected. Here is the Financial Times report, which is the clearest explanation I have seen.
www.ft.com/content/5da2fdb2-bbe6-4874-82bd-4a872d4fb924?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Casdon

There are times when I realise there is a parallel universe.

I often think the same, funny that isn’t it?😄

Casdon

Oreo

Casdon

One thing Starmer does have in his favour is that he hasn’t accidentally forgotten to declare a £5million personal gift as required by the Parliamentary Standards Committee.

Not that anybody knows of anyway.
But he did accept thousands and thousands for designer suits and glasses for himself and dresses for his wife.It was legal as long as he declared it but I felt very let down by him for doing this, I thought he may be different regarding snouts in troughs but obvs not.

There is obviously no difference between accepting free suits and glasses and inadvertently forgetting to mention a political donor had given you £5m, so let’s hope the same level of parliamentary scrutiny and sanction, and societal approbation applies in both cases.

Am no fan of Farage but have read there was nothing illegal as the donation for his security was given before he entered Parliament.Therefore no need to declare it.

Casdon

There are times when I realise there is a parallel universe.

It's a daily experience on Gnet's N & P threads

There are times when I realise there is a parallel universe.