Keir Starmer has admitted that he accepted a £20,000 donation from Lord Alli to pay for his son to have somewhere quiet to study for his GCSEs. The latest revelation has prompted a furious backlash against the Labour Party prime minister – and rightly so.
Starmer’s son: ‘please sir, can I have some more?’
As the Evening Standard reported:
Sir Keir said that around £20,000 he had declared from Lord Alli for unspecified accommodation was for his teenager to study for exams in a “peaceful” atmosphere while the then-Labour leader was overwhelmed with media attention in the run-up to the election.
“My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We have lots of journalists outside our house where we live and I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine.
“But if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and it’s your one chance in life – I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.
“Somebody then offered me accommodation where we could do that. I took that up and it was the right thing to do.”
Starmer has so far refused to apologise.
You don’t need us to tell you why everything about Starmer taking £20k so his already over-privileged kid could be even more privileged is wrong:
Imagine all the fucking kids in temporary accommodation, damp conditions and without full bellies trying to do their GCSEs and Starmer’s 16 year old has £20k to study god knows where in peace. The Maldives? Dubai? Twenty thousand pounds ffs!! https://t.co/6fMwhP7wvN
— CD (@claireyfairy1) September 25, 2024
Whilst millions of children across the country don’t have access to a computer or laptop, or live in inadequate housing and in communities where libraries have been shut down. Honestly, he really doesn’t care and isn’t even pretending he does any more either. https://t.co/JNKwMSy1Wv
— Shuaib. (@ShuaibKhan26) September 25, 2024
The idea that the prime minister’s son had “one chance in life” is utterly disingenuous too. Moreover, Starmer inadvertently admitted that the British education system is a bit of a mess, then – didn’t he?
… think that having “one chance” (at fucking 16!!) is a bad way to determine the life chances of young people, if you think that the GCSE system rewards those with stable, quiet households – which cost you, a rich man, an extra £20k – you could start making changes.
— Andrew Bartlett (@AndrewBartletta) September 25, 2024
There were also implications for Labour hitting private schools with VAT:
Private schools to pay VAT, #FreeGearKeir gets a £20k benefit in kind for his own kids and doesn’t even pay income tax on it. https://t.co/TohK6FLifq
— Pete (@PompeyGoat) September 25, 2024
All this is in top of Taylor Swift tickets, clothes, football match freebies, and more. Once again though, for those at the back – all this pales in comparison to the £4m donation from a tax avoiding hedge fund.
However, ultimately what Starmer’s freebie for his son shows is just how toxic the class system is in the UK.
Nepotism and internalised classism writ large
The PM has forever and a day banged on about his dad being a toolmaker – a misrepresentation of the fact that his dad had his own workshop – and tried to make out his upbringing was working class. In reality, at best Starmer grew up in an upper working class household – at worst, it was middle class.
All this wouldn’t matter if the PM had the kind of moral and social compass people like Jeremy Corbyn (who grew up very middle class) had. But he doesn’t.
Now, we’re witnessing the kind of politician, and person, Starmer is.
Clearly, creating nepobabies while pulling the ladder up for the rest of us is Starmer’s agenda. He’s already committed to freezing your nan to death. Labour is now looking into killing off more disabled people via benefit cuts.
But don’t worry. His son will be alright. We’re sure that’s of comfort to the kids out there who don’t have £20,000 knocking around to help with their ‘one chance’ in life.
Featured image via the Canary
