Keir Starmer is yet to hit the hundred day mark but he is already one MP down. This evening Rosie Duffield has written to the Prime Minister to inform him that she is resigning the whip ‘with immediate effect’. Duffield, who was known to have strained relations with the party leadership, cites the recent rows over Labour sleaze as a key motivation – along with the decisions to cut the winter fuel payment for most pensioners and retain the two child benefit cap.
‘Why are you not showing even the slightest bit of embarrassment?’
Duffield is the fastest MP in modern history to quit their party following a general election victory. In her letter to Starmer (published by the Sunday Times), she attacks him over his response to the recent stories about his penchant for freebies: ‘The sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale… I am so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party.’
She goes on: ‘Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of these people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister.’
‘Forcing a vote to make many older people iller and colder while you and your favourite colleagues enjoy free family trips to events most people would have to save hard for – why are you not showing even the slightest bit of embarrassment?’
So, how significant is Duffield’s exit? Of course, it’s embarrassing for any leader to lose support particularly this early on into a premiership. However, it’s also the case that Duffield has long been one of Starmer’s most vocal critics in the party. She has repeatedly criticised Starmer and his senior aides over her treatment after she spoke in favour of women’s only spaces. She has already been critical of various pledges like the winter fuel cut. It means in Starmer’s circle they won’t exactly be devastated that she is now outside the tent.
That said, the freebies row is showing no sign of dying down – and this resignation only adds to it. In recent days, Starmer has faced even more questions about his use of freebies from certain donors such as Waheed Alli, the Labour peer. He is having to defend using Alli’s £18 million penthouse during the Covid lockdowns as well as accepting a further £16,000 worth of free clothing from Alli than previously reported.
Duffield is not the only Labour MP to be unhappy with both the freebie stories and the Prime Minister’s reluctance to apologise. In recent interviews, he has angrily defended his choices rather than opting for humility. Duffield writes in her letter that she ‘cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear’. If the feelings of those colleagues start to bubble to the surface then Starmer has a much bigger problem on his hands.
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