Sir Keir Starmer will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes, Sky News understands.
Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner also announced they would take the same approach moving forward.
The decision by the prime minister, chancellor and deputy prime minister follows scrutiny of Sir Keir Starmer and his wife for accepting donations.
The prime minister has accepted work clothing donations worth £16,200, and multiple pairs of glasses, to the value of £2,485.
Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations too, to the value of £2,230.
The chancellor has not accepted any such donations, according to the MPs’ register of interests.
Sky News revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.
boycecodd on
But donations for the Arsenal VIP boxes and Taylor Swift concerts and everything else will continue to be accepted, one presumes.
Legitimate-Leg-4720 on
What more could you possibly need after spending £16,200 on clothing, anyway?
Apprehensive-Art2293 on
Definitely the right move but a lot of damage has been done already. It was a pointless thing for him to dig his heels in over, especially in the current environment and with a seemingly difficult budget coming up.
corbynista2029 on
>multiple pairs of glasses, to the value of £2,485.
What the fuck are the types of glasses he is wearing lol. Do they have diamond lenses or something?
ACO_22 on
Lmao won’t accept clothes donations after receiving 16k worth already.
klepto_entropoid on
Multi millionaire accepting ANY donations is massive red flag for a politician. The man has the worst optics since Bojo and he doesn’t even seem to be trying..
JamitryFyodorovich on
Good, but he needs to go further to restore faith. No personal donations whatsoever. Any cost incurred by the job should be provided by the state. There has to be a clear divide between lawmakers and lobbyists.
ParkingMachine3534 on
Just taking donations of everything else on the planet then.
britishotter on
can someone tell me why a representative of the people, the vast majority of which do not wear expensive clothes, need to have thousand pound suits?
he should be wearing what the common folk wear. he is a member of the house of commons.
WHY IS HE NOT WEARING A BURLAP SACK
callsignhotdog on
I work a middle management job at a small software company. Even I have to do regular training about reporting anything bigger than a branded pen or a lunch meeting, and avoiding even the APPEARANCE of impropriety.
Dedsnotdead on
Will he and his Wife still be accepting business attire?
michaelisnotginger on
What kind of man has another man buy his wife clothes? Odd
potpan0 on
Jesus fucking Christ. So Starmer and the rest of the Cabinet spend an entire week going before the press absolutely embarrassing themselves trying to find a dozen different ways to insist that Starmer and his wife and other Cabinet members are actually totally justified in taking these donations and that if anything they’re doing *us* a favour by taking them… only to end the week by backing down and admitting it was a mistake and saying they won’t take (some) donations any more.
What a fucking comms *disaster*. The entire comms team should be given their P45s. Of course they won’t though. There have been similar, though not quite as massive, comms disasters before but the comms team have kept trundling on like nothing has happened. But this is what happens when you spend a decade getting comparatively cushy treatment by the press and are totally unprepared for when they start turning the screw even the tiniest amount.
sookmaaroot on
He doesn’t need any fucking BRIBARY donations, cunts on over £150,000 a year wages.
yellowrainbird on
But if he can’t accept socks and scarves, and wooly bobblehats sent in by adoring UK pensioners, how on earth will the poor man stay warm this winter?!
Expensive_Rub5564 on
The man is on £100k, why would he be accepting gifts. Can’t buy work clothes and glasses with that salary? Shameful PM.
Should take the donation money and give it to struggling families or food banks that support the local community.
arenaross on
Everyone here is going to be so angry when they find out about Boris Johnson.
Emotional-Ebb8321 on
I understand that instead donations will be accepted in the form of complete garments rather than money to pay for garments.
Legendofvader on
Too late at this juncture his image as Mr Clean is done.
Melodic-Display-6311 on
You know at least with BoJo he didn’t care that people knew he was corrupt, Starmer decried Tory corruption and sleaze and not even two months in office he does this???
I’m actually wondering if Labour are trying to piss people off deliberately at this point
lizardk101 on
Starmer has awful political instincts, and isn’t a very good politician. He’s wasted a lot of political capital this week defending, and having his team defend the indefensible. He was very right, and quick to attack Tories for accepting from donors, let’s be real, bribes.
It’s not even 100 days yet, and he’s gone from scandal to scandal, and already a very “wounded” political animal. He’s making tough decisions for the country, but doing so while very much enjoying the luxury, and privilege of office.
SpikeTheRight on
The Labour-tory faction are understandably comfortable with soft corruption because Starmer is their guy, but he has the stain on him now and it’s not going away.
Popeychops on
Approaching the stable door after the horse has bolted. While I think this has little reach beyond the terminally online, it reflects woefully on the Comms team at number 10
ShufflingToGlory on
So was it wrong?
If it wasn’t wrong then did it give the impression of impropriety?
If it gave the impression of impropriety then why did they do it in the first place?
If this was above board then does the public “misunderstanding” the nature of the gifts make them thick?
If the public have been misled by the press and opposition parties then does that make them easily led thickos?
Far-Crow-7195 on
I’m going to try and be measured on this issue. I don’t like Keir Starmer, his government and much of what he stands for so my opinions inevitably are coloured by those facts. Part of me is enjoying the fall from grace because I think this government so far has been crap.
That said, being PM requires a certain image and maintaining that image is expensive. There is an argument (which I expect would be unpopular) for the PM to have either an allowance or similar for clothes for public affairs and same for his wife. The argument he should dress himself has some merit but he can’t really go to a G7 conference in an M&S suit and stand next to the preening Macron who is probably in something designer without looking like the poor relation (no offence to M&S which I in have in my own wardrobe). £20k per year would hardly pay for Sue Gray for a month so who cares.
Starmer is being hung by his own petard because he was self righteous and hectoring in opposition and set himself up for a fall as a result. His wife accepting concert tickets and the No10 pass for the donor was stupid and easily avoidable. He is clearly a hypocrite and that is never a good look. I do still have some sympathy for the clothes cost issue. Same with the box at the football – I don’t really care. He isn’t your man in the street and he likes the game so fair enough he sits with the Chairman. It does raise a question about the regulator and conflicts of interest.
Overall I think this is a massive self inflicted own goal by a somewhat naive politician who seems to have difficulty in reading the room. The winter fuel payments thing is the same – small saving for a massive political headache. Just wait until Edna freezes to death and the Daily Mail has the family all over the front page just because they set the limit so low.
In short – the government should pay for his suits like the Americans do for their President. Starmer should have seen this coming and let’s face it he’s loaded and leads a left wing party so just should just buy his own stuff. He should tell his wife that if she wants to go to concert to pay for it like everyone else.
It’s exhausting having politicians that don’t seem to have political instincts.
Robcrook101 on
Why is the focus on Starmer who’s been in charge for a few months, Tories were taking donations like hot dinners.
smoothie1919 on
Sorry but are we assuming Rishi, Boris and his gang never took money to pay for things?
IdiosyncraticAutism on
How noble of him to do so after coming under mass scrutiny for doing so for god knows how long. What a great leader.
FunctionOld4351 on
Isn’t it marvellous – and all it took for him to decide it was wrong was a scandal.
I might see if I can send him a compass. A moral compass.
Low_Map4314 on
I’m sorry but I read somewhere that guy is worth 7mil. What does he possibly need donations for anything ?
31 Comments
Sir Keir Starmer will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes, Sky News understands.
Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner also announced they would take the same approach moving forward.
The decision by the prime minister, chancellor and deputy prime minister follows scrutiny of Sir Keir Starmer and his wife for accepting donations.
The prime minister has accepted work clothing donations worth £16,200, and multiple pairs of glasses, to the value of £2,485.
Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations too, to the value of £2,230.
The chancellor has not accepted any such donations, according to the MPs’ register of interests.
Sky News revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.
But donations for the Arsenal VIP boxes and Taylor Swift concerts and everything else will continue to be accepted, one presumes.
What more could you possibly need after spending £16,200 on clothing, anyway?
Definitely the right move but a lot of damage has been done already. It was a pointless thing for him to dig his heels in over, especially in the current environment and with a seemingly difficult budget coming up.
>multiple pairs of glasses, to the value of £2,485.
What the fuck are the types of glasses he is wearing lol. Do they have diamond lenses or something?
Lmao won’t accept clothes donations after receiving 16k worth already.
Multi millionaire accepting ANY donations is massive red flag for a politician. The man has the worst optics since Bojo and he doesn’t even seem to be trying..
Good, but he needs to go further to restore faith. No personal donations whatsoever. Any cost incurred by the job should be provided by the state. There has to be a clear divide between lawmakers and lobbyists.
Just taking donations of everything else on the planet then.
can someone tell me why a representative of the people, the vast majority of which do not wear expensive clothes, need to have thousand pound suits?
he should be wearing what the common folk wear. he is a member of the house of commons.
WHY IS HE NOT WEARING A BURLAP SACK
I work a middle management job at a small software company. Even I have to do regular training about reporting anything bigger than a branded pen or a lunch meeting, and avoiding even the APPEARANCE of impropriety.
Will he and his Wife still be accepting business attire?
What kind of man has another man buy his wife clothes? Odd
Jesus fucking Christ. So Starmer and the rest of the Cabinet spend an entire week going before the press absolutely embarrassing themselves trying to find a dozen different ways to insist that Starmer and his wife and other Cabinet members are actually totally justified in taking these donations and that if anything they’re doing *us* a favour by taking them… only to end the week by backing down and admitting it was a mistake and saying they won’t take (some) donations any more.
What a fucking comms *disaster*. The entire comms team should be given their P45s. Of course they won’t though. There have been similar, though not quite as massive, comms disasters before but the comms team have kept trundling on like nothing has happened. But this is what happens when you spend a decade getting comparatively cushy treatment by the press and are totally unprepared for when they start turning the screw even the tiniest amount.
He doesn’t need any fucking BRIBARY donations, cunts on over £150,000 a year wages.
But if he can’t accept socks and scarves, and wooly bobblehats sent in by adoring UK pensioners, how on earth will the poor man stay warm this winter?!
The man is on £100k, why would he be accepting gifts. Can’t buy work clothes and glasses with that salary? Shameful PM.
Should take the donation money and give it to struggling families or food banks that support the local community.
Everyone here is going to be so angry when they find out about Boris Johnson.
I understand that instead donations will be accepted in the form of complete garments rather than money to pay for garments.
Too late at this juncture his image as Mr Clean is done.
You know at least with BoJo he didn’t care that people knew he was corrupt, Starmer decried Tory corruption and sleaze and not even two months in office he does this???
I’m actually wondering if Labour are trying to piss people off deliberately at this point
Starmer has awful political instincts, and isn’t a very good politician. He’s wasted a lot of political capital this week defending, and having his team defend the indefensible. He was very right, and quick to attack Tories for accepting from donors, let’s be real, bribes.
It’s not even 100 days yet, and he’s gone from scandal to scandal, and already a very “wounded” political animal. He’s making tough decisions for the country, but doing so while very much enjoying the luxury, and privilege of office.
The Labour-tory faction are understandably comfortable with soft corruption because Starmer is their guy, but he has the stain on him now and it’s not going away.
Approaching the stable door after the horse has bolted. While I think this has little reach beyond the terminally online, it reflects woefully on the Comms team at number 10
So was it wrong?
If it wasn’t wrong then did it give the impression of impropriety?
If it gave the impression of impropriety then why did they do it in the first place?
If this was above board then does the public “misunderstanding” the nature of the gifts make them thick?
If the public have been misled by the press and opposition parties then does that make them easily led thickos?
I’m going to try and be measured on this issue. I don’t like Keir Starmer, his government and much of what he stands for so my opinions inevitably are coloured by those facts. Part of me is enjoying the fall from grace because I think this government so far has been crap.
That said, being PM requires a certain image and maintaining that image is expensive. There is an argument (which I expect would be unpopular) for the PM to have either an allowance or similar for clothes for public affairs and same for his wife. The argument he should dress himself has some merit but he can’t really go to a G7 conference in an M&S suit and stand next to the preening Macron who is probably in something designer without looking like the poor relation (no offence to M&S which I in have in my own wardrobe). £20k per year would hardly pay for Sue Gray for a month so who cares.
Starmer is being hung by his own petard because he was self righteous and hectoring in opposition and set himself up for a fall as a result. His wife accepting concert tickets and the No10 pass for the donor was stupid and easily avoidable. He is clearly a hypocrite and that is never a good look. I do still have some sympathy for the clothes cost issue. Same with the box at the football – I don’t really care. He isn’t your man in the street and he likes the game so fair enough he sits with the Chairman. It does raise a question about the regulator and conflicts of interest.
Overall I think this is a massive self inflicted own goal by a somewhat naive politician who seems to have difficulty in reading the room. The winter fuel payments thing is the same – small saving for a massive political headache. Just wait until Edna freezes to death and the Daily Mail has the family all over the front page just because they set the limit so low.
In short – the government should pay for his suits like the Americans do for their President. Starmer should have seen this coming and let’s face it he’s loaded and leads a left wing party so just should just buy his own stuff. He should tell his wife that if she wants to go to concert to pay for it like everyone else.
It’s exhausting having politicians that don’t seem to have political instincts.
Why is the focus on Starmer who’s been in charge for a few months, Tories were taking donations like hot dinners.
Sorry but are we assuming Rishi, Boris and his gang never took money to pay for things?
How noble of him to do so after coming under mass scrutiny for doing so for god knows how long. What a great leader.
Isn’t it marvellous – and all it took for him to decide it was wrong was a scandal.
I might see if I can send him a compass. A moral compass.
I’m sorry but I read somewhere that guy is worth 7mil. What does he possibly need donations for anything ?