Politicians receiving “gifts” – Keir Starmer and the donorgate scandal

To bloggers not based in the UK: our new PM (and Cabinet) seem to have been receiving loads of “gifts” from a mysterious “Lord Alli” (spelt, apparently, with a double “LL”).

The PM accepted “clothes” from Lord Alli (including a dress for the PM’s wife), and an Arsenal box etc... and everyone seems to have received something from Lord Alli.

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For the Arsenal box — writes Stephen Daisley in “Now we know how Keir Starmer will fall“ (The Spectator):

I’m a massive Arsenal fan. I can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality I can’t go to a game. You could say, well, bad luck. That’s why gifts have to be registered. But you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.

The £20k donation for the use of a flat — writes Archie Mitchell in “Keir Starmer accepted £20,000 of accommodation to help his son study for GCSEs“ (The Independent):

I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine, but if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs, your one chance in life, I promised him we’d move somewhere, we’d get out of that house, and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying ... “Someone then offered me accommodation where we could do that, I took it up, and it was the right thing to do for my boy, it didn’t cost the taxpayer a penny.” Asked if that was Lord Alli, Sir Keir says: “Yes, of course” ... But my primary concern wasn’t about influencing government, it was making sure my boy could do his GCSE’s without wading through loads of journalists outside the house.

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How does the PM expect normal people (whose taxes are about to go up) to react to this when they can’t afford to attend football matches or find “somewhere quiet” for their kids to “study”? Especially after they’ve been criticising the Tories for being “out of touch”? 

Those undertaking a “civic” job in government (e.g. judges, parliamentarians), directorships, or professional associations have work policies forbidding accepting “gifts” from clients, because doing so runs the risk of falling foul of anti-bribery and corruption laws.

Starmer looks especially bad since he was a most vocal critic of cronyism and questionable donations in opposition.

He just looks like a massive hypocrite now.