Starmer pleads incompetence over mounting cronyism allegations

  • Post last modified:September 15, 2024
  • Reading time:12 mins read


When the Tories were still in power, Keir Starmer accused them of “sleaze, cronyism, corruption”. Given that Starmer presented himself as an alternative to the Tories, you think he’d be pretty on top of not appearing corrupt. Such forethought would seemingly make you overqualified to work in Starmer’s top team:

Crony baloney

Starmer said the following in 2021:

He was promoting an article he wrote for iNews in which he argued:

If I were Prime Minister, we would have an Office of Value for Money on behalf of taxpayers, an anti-corruption commission with real teeth and far greater transparency on how your hard-earned money is spent. And we’d toughen the rules so MPs can’t profit from their office and open the door to vested interests. That is a serious plan to clean up Westminster.

Interestingly, 2021 was the last time Starmer tweeted about corruption (if Twitter’s search functionality is working correctly – not something we can assume in the age of Elon Musk). We don’t seem to remember the Tories becoming less corrupt after 2021, so maybe he rethought his stance on corruption? His recent actions certainly suggest so, as reported by the BBC:

Sir Keir Starmer may have broken parliamentary rules in failing to declare clothes bought for his wife by Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli.

According to the Sunday Times, the donations also covered the cost of a personal shopper and alterations for Victoria, both before and after the general election.

The prime minister reportedly approached parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after being given fresh advice on what items needed to be disclosed.

A No 10 spokesperson said Sir Keir believed he had complied with the rules, but had since declared further items.

MPs are required to register gifts and donations within 28 days of receiving them.

Here’s the part where Starmer pleads incompetence:

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “We sought advice from the authorities on coming to office.

“We believed we had been compliant, however, following further interrogation this month, we have declared further items.”

The article also provides a bit more detail on lord Alli – the man who gave Starmer tens of thousands of pounds worth of stuff – the man who subsequently received uncommon access to the seat of power:

Lord Alli has previously bought clothes and glasses for Sir Keir, which have been listed on his entry on the register of MPs’ interests.

Most recently, the prime minister declared the fact Lord Alli had provided him with accommodation for several weeks, which is recorded as being worth more than £20,000.

In August, it emerged Lord Alli had been given a temporary Downing Street security pass despite having no formal government role.

According to the dictionary, a person who pays for favours (as Alli is alleged to have done) is a ‘crony’. Interestingly, Starmer has never tweeted the words ‘crony‘ or ‘cronyism‘ – all while subsequent Tory governments faced ongoing cronyism accusations. Given that Starmer was the leader of the opposition, you’d think he would have made more noise about that.

Labour is facing further accusations of corruption and cronyism too, as we reported last week. It’s also neglecting to re-nationalise our waterways, with privatised water often described as open corruption and a “national scandal“:

Starmer: Mr Incompetent

Starmer does have one benefit in his battle to convince everyone he’s incompetent – namely his genuine incompetence:

For the sake of balance, however, we should point out that some are describing this apparent blunder as a calculated move:

Either way, we all suspect that Labour is battering pensioners so it doesn’t have to make the mega-rich pay their fair share.

Corruption, in other words.

Allegedly.

‘Starmer’s hypocrisy’

Starmer and his Labour Party are presenting themselves as corrupt, incompetent, and nasty, and their reputation is tanking accordingly:

Given the absolute shitshow that Labour have been so far, some are predicting we haven’t seen anything yet:

Unsurprisingly, Starmer is getting roundly shouted at by everyone:

 

Starmer has even been called out by former Labour MP Simon Danczuk – a man who for all his faults knows a fair amount about corruption charges:

This is only the beginning

It feels like a lifetime since Labour returned to power, and yet it’s been less that two months if you ignore the six-week summer holiday Parliament took following the election. During that short amount of time Labour has made it clear what they’re about and who they stand for. The public is responding accordingly; the question is how bad do things have to get before a coup starts brewing?

We know Starmer won’t U-turn, of course, because he only turns his back on popular policies.

Featured image via The Times and Stats for Lefties





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