Labour’s freebie fiasco isn’t going away. Sir Keir Starmer has prompted more headlines by suggesting he took thousands of pounds of donations from millionaire donor Lord Alli because of, um, his son. Excuses, excuses…
The Prime Minister was speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about the ongoing frockgate scandal when he claimed that he had accepted £20,000 in donations for accommodation – including a the use of an £18 million Covent Garden penthouse – from the Labour peer to avoid disrupting his son’s study sessions. In an emotive plea to the broadcaster about the matter, the Labour leader insisted:
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. 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…
Going on, the PM added:
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.
Good heavens. Talk about grasping at straws, eh?
The Prime Minister has been unable to shake scrutiny over the donation row – despite the first Labour conference in 15 years that has taken place while the party is in government. On Tuesday, top Starmerite Pat McFadden told a crowd that Sir Keir had ‘declared everything’ – although he failed to mention the PM had not initially disclosed donations in line with parliamentary rules. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster then tried to explain away the party leader’s £16,000 worth of workwear gifts because Starmer was ‘in the public eye’ for the six weeks leading to the snap election. Er, right.
Labour MPs have been rather scathing behind the scenes over the party’s inability to squash the story – and the PM’s warning to conference that the country faces ‘tough’ economic decisions ahead has not, amid the freebie fiasco, done much to foster goodwill. Now Sir Keir’s latest excuse simply drags the story on for yet another day…
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