Westminster Politics 2024-2029

GYT6O3GXUAAPt_l


Insane. I did listen to the interview and it’s terrible.
 
@Jericholyte2 at some point you’re going to get very tired of blindly defending Starmer’s Labour and start asking yourself “why exactly am I having to defend their actions so frequently” and at that point the penny might just drop.


Do yourself a favour and trying raising your bar a little higher than a direct comparison with the previous government.
Seriously, I'm tired of going around in the same circles with you.

I demand far better than the previous government.

We're getting considerably better than the previous government (where are the Labour VIP lanes, ex-ethics advisors, illegal prorogations of Parliament, has Rayner or any member of the Cabinet lied to the Monarch) but this isn't enough for some, especially on here.

As I've said repeatedly ad nauseum, I'm 100% in favour or restricting or wiping out gifting from donors but, and this is where most fail to provide a valid answer, what are you angry about?

- is it the rules they've broken? Because they haven't
- is it that they've lied to Parliament? Because they haven't
- is it because they've lied about declarations? Because they haven't

You and the likes of @Bobade can whine about 'the optics' or public opinion, but (a) perception is objectively useless (look at when the former Culture said the main issue with the BBC was the 'perception' of bias but then couldn't cite any actual bias) and (b) this is a greater indication of the bent influence of the media than it does about the performance of the actual MPs.

I think Attlee said "A Tory minister can sleep in ten different women's beds in a week. A Labour minister gets it in the neck if he looks at his neighbour's wife over the garden fence.” in relation to this.

When acting within the rules isn't enough, what is there?
 
Seriously, I'm tired of going around in the same circles with you.

I demand far better than the previous government.

We're getting considerably better than the previous government (where are the Labour VIP lanes, ex-ethics advisors, illegal prorogations of Parliament, has Rayner or any member of the Cabinet lied to the Monarch) but this isn't enough for some, especially on here.

As I've said repeatedly ad nauseum, I'm 100% in favour or restricting or wiping out gifting from donors but, and this is where most fail to provide a valid answer, what are you angry about?

- is it the rules they've broken? Because they haven't
- is it that they've lied to Parliament? Because they haven't
- is it because they've lied about declarations? Because they haven't

You and the likes of @Bobade can whine about 'the optics' or public opinion, but (a) perception is objectively useless (look at when the former Culture said the main issue with the BBC was the 'perception' of bias but then couldn't cite any actual bias) and (b) this is a greater indication of the bent influence of the media than it does about the performance of the actual MPs.

I think Attlee said "A Tory minister can sleep in ten different women's beds in a week. A Labour minister gets it in the neck if he looks at his neighbour's wife over the garden fence.” in relation to this.

When acting within the rules isn't enough, what is there?

Perception is why the NHS is currently very nervous and why the economy has a very negative outlook, it's absolutely not objectively useless. Particularly when it comes to money which is largely based on fairytales. They're currently making a massive cock up of perception in multiple areas, not the least of which is not organising their donations to look less cretinous.

Also being a Tory minister sounds a bit too rock n roll according to that quote! :lol:
 
Seriously, I'm tired of going around in the same circles with you.

I demand far better than the previous government.

We're getting considerably better than the previous government (where are the Labour VIP lanes, ex-ethics advisors, illegal prorogations of Parliament, has Rayner or any member of the Cabinet lied to the Monarch) but this isn't enough for some, especially on here.

As I've said repeatedly ad nauseum, I'm 100% in favour or restricting or wiping out gifting from donors but, and this is where most fail to provide a valid answer, what are you angry about?

- is it the rules they've broken? Because they haven't
- is it that they've lied to Parliament? Because they haven't
- is it because they've lied about declarations? Because they haven't

You and the likes of @Bobade can whine about 'the optics' or public opinion, but (a) perception is objectively useless (look at when the former Culture said the main issue with the BBC was the 'perception' of bias but then couldn't cite any actual bias) and (b) this is a greater indication of the bent influence of the media than it does about the performance of the actual MPs.

I think Attlee said "A Tory minister can sleep in ten different women's beds in a week. A Labour minister gets it in the neck if he looks at his neighbour's wife over the garden fence.” in relation to this.

When acting within the rules isn't enough, what is there?
We’re not getting considerably better than the last government and your listing of the last government’s actions in comparison is case in point that you continue to use that as the bar to which Labour must be held.


You seem to be blissfully or at least wilfully ignorant to what these freebies are. The framing of them as “freebies” itself is disingenuous, they’re actually the currency lobbyists use to effect policy.


Take this for example:

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/p...ee-pass-to-glasto-courtesy-of-youtube-383200/


This is why MPs receive freebies and this is why it’s wrong for MPs to be allowed to receive them.


Can you explain to me any other reason these MPs are given these freebies? Pure altruism from huge corporations is not an answer.
 
We’re not getting considerably better than the last government and your listing of the last government’s actions in comparison is case in point that you continue to use that as the bar to which Labour must be held.


You seem to be blissfully or at least wilfully ignorant to what these freebies are. The framing of them as “freebies” itself is disingenuous, they’re actually the currency lobbyists use to effect policy.


Take this for example:

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/labour-ditched-digital-service-tax-hike-after-reynolds-enjoyed-a-free-pass-to-glasto-courtesy-of-youtube-383200/


This is why MPs receive freebies and this is why it’s wrong for MPs to be allowed to receive them.


Can you explain to me any other reason these MPs are given these freebies? Pure altruism from huge corporations is not an answer.

I cited that exact example! I said that is clearly a potential conflict of interests and should be investigated!

Where are the other cases of conflicts involving Reeves, Rayner, Starmer?
 
Even if you think it's OK for your politicians to be openly bribed because they put it in a book for posterity, I'm not sure how you let "£20,000 so my kid could study for his exams" pass.

He either thinks everyone listening is an imbecile or is openly laughing at you. Take your pick.
 
Nandy told attendees, ‘The biggest damage the Tories did is the loss of hope’ as ‘so many people lost the belief that politics is the route for change.’ Creasy restated Harold Wilson’s dictum, ‘Labour is a moral crusade, or it is nothing.’ But all the speakers did this in front of a banner for WPI Strategy, who were thanked for funding the venue and free bar. WPI Strategy is an essentially Conservative lobbying firm founded by two Tory directors — former David Cameron adviser Sean Worth and Nick Faith. They offer clients their ‘highly experienced team drawn from the most senior roles in government’, but their Tory links were made useless by Labour’s victory. So WPI funded the LabourList rally, having already hired Keir Starmer’s former director of policy, Claire Ainsley, who also spoke at the rally without revealing her new lobbying job.

WPI’s recent clients include Pennon Group, the owner of sewage polluter South West Water, the privatiser Mitie, and Uber Eats.

https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/09/labour-conference-was-a-lobbyists-utopia/
.
 
The undeclared gift of designer clothing for Mrs Starmer?

When they sought advice on if it should be declare or not, and were advised that it didn't have to be. And then when they were declaring other items, went back and voluntarily declared them in retrospect, because it looked like if one was being declared than the other should have been too.

(I'll try to find the source for that)

***UPDATE***

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgeyy0dlp24o

"The gifts, from Labour donor Lord Alli, included clothes and alterations for Sir Keir’s wife Victoria, given before and after Labour's election victory in July. MPs are required to declare gifts within 28 days.

The Sunday Times reported that the prime minister approached the parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after being given updated advice on what needed to be registered.

Sir Keir said it was important that "we have transparency".

"And that's why, shortly after the election, my team reached out for advice on what declaration should be made, so it's in accordance with the rules," he said.

"They then sought out for further advice more recently, as a result of which they made the relevant declarations."
 


...you've read the last 10-20 pages of this thread right?

1. Break no rules -> media try to crucify you
2. Say you're going to stop doing the thing that wasn't breaking the rules -> media go after you

It's like if NASA did another moon landing mission just to appease the conspiracy theorists - they'd then all be out going "Well why are you doing it now if it wasn't faked before?"
 
Last edited:
...you've read the last 10-20 pages of this thread right?

1. Break no rules -> media try to crucify you
2. Say you're going to stop doing the thing that wasn't breaking the rules -> media go after you

It's like if NASA did another moon landing mission just to appease the conspiracy theorists - they'd then all be out going "Well why are you doing it now if it wasn't faked before?"

Maybe listen tot his guy when you want to understand why gifts are a bad thing.

 
Last edited:
...you've read the last 10-20 pages of this thread right?

1. Break no rules -> media try to crucify you
2. Say you're going to stop doing the thing that wasn't breaking the rules -> media go after you

It's like if NASA did another moon landing mission just to appease the conspiracy theorists - they'd then all be out going "Well why are you doing it now if it wasn't faked before?"

It's so fascinating to see people adopt a "everything is fine as long as it's legal" worldview when it's politically convenient.

The way you're trying to spin this is so funny, you should be getting paid.
 
The first GCSE exam was on 9th May 2024 and the final GCSE exam was on Wednesday 19th June 2024.
Feels like something quite important was happening for the June-July period, no?

Decamping to alternative accomodation to avoid disruption to your kids is now seen as a bad thing?

Am I right in saying it was declared in kind, not a financial transaction? Rich bloke says ‘Stay at my gaff if you like’ and other bloke says ‘cheers’?

Getting pissy about optics is so Fcuking boring.

Games gone.
 
It's so fascinating to see people adopt a "everything is fine as long as it's legal" worldview when it's politically convenient.

The way you're trying to spin this is so funny, you should be getting paid.

Which would be a fine 'attack line' if I wasn't also say I'm 100% in favour of restricting / banning outright these kinds of gifts.

Ban all private / company donations over £X per donation and cap it annually at £Y.

Provide annual budgets for the office of PM in a similar way that exists with No.10 decorations for things like clothing, hospitality etc.

Anything like holidays etc need to be bettered for potential conflict of interest and have a statute of limitations of 10yrs for any future conflicts.

How’s that?

Until that exists I’ll continue to see someone acting within the existing rules as better than someone who shirks even their own pretty lax rules.
 
Which would be a fine 'attack line' if I wasn't also say I'm 100% in favour of restricting / banning outright these kinds of gifts.

Yet you're still playing the Valiant Defender, and acting like you don't understand.

Take the comment just above: when Starmer and Labour announce that they'll stop taking some of the gifts, while still steadfastly claiming that there's nothing wrong with receiving those gifts, then asking why they're going to stop is the most obvious question of all. It would be downright negligent of a journalist not to ask it. Obviously the real answer is "we want to continue using our influence to attract these economic benefits for ourselves, but it has started to hurt us too much politically so we have to reign it in for a bit", but you still have to ask. What do you do? You start rambling about moon landings and conspiracy theorists, trying to frame it as they've somehow gotten themselves into a situation by accident and the media are now unfairly targeting them.
 
Feels like something quite important was happening for the June-July period, no?

Decamping to alternative accomodation to avoid disruption to your kids is now seen as a bad thing?

Am I right in saying it was declared in kind, not a financial transaction? Rich bloke says ‘Stay at my gaff if you like’ and other bloke says ‘cheers’?

Getting pissy about optics is so Fcuking boring.

Games gone.
If the last GCSE was on 19 June why did he need to stay until 13 July? What disruption was he avoiding there?

Why is the rich bloke letting Starmer stay at his gaff? Why is the rich bloke kitting Starmer and his wife out in expensive clothes?

I refuse to believe you're this dumb.
 
If the last GCSE was on 19 June why did he need to stay until 13 July? What disruption was he avoiding there?

Why is the rich bloke letting Starmer stay at his gaff? Why is the rich bloke kitting Starmer and his wife out in expensive clothes?

I refuse to believe you're this dumb.

Final two weeks of the election, no? If you’ve set up a base in one location, you’re not going to move a home office from one location to another in that period.

Rich bloke is letting him stay there as he wants a Labour PM. That is entirely ok. If. It’s. Declared.

Quit with the dumb chat too. It’s very silly.
 
Final two weeks of the election, no? If you’ve set up a base in one location, you’re not going to move a home office from one location to another in that period.

Rich bloke is letting him stay there as he wants a Labour PM. That is entirely ok. If. It’s. Declared.

Quit with the dumb chat too. It’s very silly.
Even the language you're using is attempting to play it down, as if there's nothing wrong with someone reportedly worth around £200m giving the Prime Minister of the country money, clothes and accommodation. They're not just two 'blokes' and an £18m penthouse is not a 'gaff'. They're not two brickies, one of whom has split up with his missus and is kipping on the other one's sofa until he sorts something out. It's an incredibly rich man and a considerably less well off Prime Minister. And if you don't think that political favours don't work exactly like this, then I think you're going to be surprised further down the line.
 
Feels like something quite important was happening for the June-July period, no?

Decamping to alternative accomodation to avoid disruption to your kids is now seen as a bad thing?

Am I right in saying it was declared in kind, not a financial transaction? Rich bloke says ‘Stay at my gaff if you like’ and other bloke says ‘cheers’?

Getting pissy about optics is so Fcuking boring.

Games gone.
Yes and the property was used for the election campaign. Journalists knew about it.

Here's a piece from the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-starmers-pm-biographer-4-july-starmer-family

Here is the reference by the author on election night:

"Starmer and his wife, Vic, along with their two teenage children, were lined up on the sofa watching the television almost like they were recreating the opening of the cartoon series The Simpsons. They tried to show they were relaxed in this upmarket house Starmer had borrowed from a friend."

So it was common knowledge this was the arrangement.

Upmarket house being an £18m Covent Garden mansion, but that's by the by.

Why now is it being justified as used as solely for the son's education?

This whole media strategy screams of amateur hour to be honest. I've met Matthew Doyle. He is excellent at what he does. I cannot believe it is him directing the government responses which are making everyone involved seem both greedy and stupid.
 
Even the language you're using is attempting to play it down, as if there's nothing wrong with someone reportedly worth around £200m giving the Prime Minister of the country money, clothes and accommodation. They're not just two 'blokes' and an £18m penthouse is not a 'gaff'. They're not two brickies, one of whom has split up with his missus and is kipping on the other one's sofa until he sorts something out. It's an incredibly rich man and a considerably less well off Prime Minister. And if you don't think that political favours don't work exactly like this, then I think you're going to be surprised further down the line.

He was leader of the opposition.

Best believe if I was a millionaire I’d be moving heaven and earth to get rid of the Tories. Letting someone use my house, buying them some clothes and glasses is light work.

The Tories have ruined everyone’s perception or normal.

Half the people here would still bleat on if he borrowed the fellas lawnmower.
 
Yes and the property was used for the election campaign. Journalists knew about it.

Here's a piece from the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/politic...-starmers-pm-biographer-4-july-starmer-family

Here is the reference by the author on election night:

"Starmer and his wife, Vic, along with their two teenage children, were lined up on the sofa watching the television almost like they were recreating the opening of the cartoon series The Simpsons. They tried to show they were relaxed in this upmarket house Starmer had borrowed from a friend."

So it was common knowledge this was the arrangement.

Upmarket house being an £18m Covent Garden mansion, but that's by the by.

Why now is it being justified as used as solely for the son's education?

This whole media strategy screams of amateur hour to be honest. I've met Matthew Doyle. He is excellent at what he does. I cannot believe it is him directing the government responses which are making everyone involved seem both greedy and stupid.

They didn’t say solely.

Honestly, it’s nothing. It was written about at the time. It made sense.

That you wish a father to publicly say ‘I’m doing this for my son’ and heap additional pressure on the lad is just daft.

More to the point, the genuine reason might have been “The right wing gutter press do my Fcuking head in and I’m sick of the sight of them, and want to punch them when they stand on my doorstep every morning when my kids go to school”.

It’s so boring. So utterly boring. All these column inches. None of them dedicated to actual change. Eyes on the prize people.

If the budget is disgusting, I’ll tear him and the party to pieces along with everyone else. For now, I just don’t care.
 
Seriously, I'm tired of going around in the same circles with you.

I demand far better than the previous government.

We're getting considerably better than the previous government (where are the Labour VIP lanes, ex-ethics advisors, illegal prorogations of Parliament, has Rayner or any member of the Cabinet lied to the Monarch) but this isn't enough for some, especially on here.

As I've said repeatedly ad nauseum, I'm 100% in favour or restricting or wiping out gifting from donors but, and this is where most fail to provide a valid answer, what are you angry about?

- is it the rules they've broken? Because they haven't
- is it that they've lied to Parliament? Because they haven't
- is it because they've lied about declarations? Because they haven't

You and the likes of @Bobade can whine about 'the optics' or public opinion, but (a) perception is objectively useless (look at when the former Culture said the main issue with the BBC was the 'perception' of bias but then couldn't cite any actual bias) and (b) this is a greater indication of the bent influence of the media than it does about the performance of the actual MPs.

I think Attlee said "A Tory minister can sleep in ten different women's beds in a week. A Labour minister gets it in the neck if he looks at his neighbour's wife over the garden fence.” in relation to this.

When acting within the rules isn't enough, what is there?

I agree with you for the most part but this isn't just an "it looks bad", it is wrong whatever the rules say.

At the least worst case, it undermines policy by encouraging the narrative that policy is made by millionaires and gives the impression access is for sale if you are rich enough.

Worst case, they are in fact bought and paid for before they get in power, like in the US.
 
They didn’t say solely.

Honestly, it’s nothing. It was written about at the time. It made sense.

That you wish a father to publicly say ‘I’m doing this for my son’ and heap additional pressure on the lad is just daft.

More to the point, the genuine reason might have been “The right wing gutter press do my Fcuking head in and I’m sick of the sight of them, and want to punch them when they stand on my doorstep every morning when my kids go to school”.

It’s so boring. So utterly boring. All these column inches. None of them dedicated to actual change. Eyes on the prize people.

If the budget is disgusting, I’ll tear him and the party to pieces along with everyone else. For now, I just don’t care.
Writing numerous extensive comments on the matter is always the best way of showing you don't care after all.
 
Final two weeks of the election, no? If you’ve set up a base in one location, you’re not going to move a home office from one location to another in that period.

Rich bloke is letting him stay there as he wants a Labour PM. That is entirely ok. If. It’s. Declared.

Quit with the dumb chat too. It’s very silly.
I'm sorry but this is insane. :lol: You can't genuinely believe this? You have to be trolling.
 
I'm sorry but this is insane. :lol: You can't genuinely believe this? You have to be trolling.

Why not? Did you want to get rid of the Tories? If you had money, would you use it to increase those chances?

I’m literally describing the thing you say Starmers guilty of? So giggle on Brutha.
 
The winter fuel payment cut has been voted down at the Labour conference, let's see if Starver actually gives a feck about democracy (he doesn't).
 
The winter fuel payment cut has been voted down at the Labour conference, let's see if Starver actually gives a feck about democracy (he doesn't).
It'll join support for PR, nationalisation of water & energy, private interests to be removed from the NHS and sanctions placed on brutal regimes from the last few conferences in the bin.