Back to Labour’s freebie row, which has spilled over into conference week. Sir Keir Starmer’s top team is desperate to get on top of the scandal, yet every time they try, they somehow manage to make things worse. Take Labour’s winter fuel payment-cutting Rachel Reeves, for example, who spoke to ITV News today about the fiasco. The Chancellor was quizzed about the whole affair on the airwaves after Labour’s popularity nosedived amid tales of extravagant gifting. First admitting to a cronyism problem that the party is ‘making sure we get a grip of’, Reeves then turned to defend a series of luxurious donations:
What really grates is that people donate and then they get something in return. What we saw during the pandemic was people who had donated to the Conservative party then getting government contracts, government money for things like PPE.
Or, um, like a millionaire donor receiving a No. 10 pass? Lord Alli has donated almost £16,200 of workwear to the Prime Minister and £5,000 of new clothes to Lady Starmer – as well as having helped fund eight Labour leadership candidates, donating to seven current members of the Cabinet. After revelations emerged that the businessman had a pass to Downing Street, the government’s spinners quickly tried to correct the record – stating that Alli did have a pass but now, er, no longer has one. It’s not a great look for a party that has consistently pointed the finger at their opponents over Covid contracts…
And some of the increasingly infuriated general public have also pointed to the multi-million pound donation made to Starmer’s army by Quadrature Capital, a firm with shares worth millions in fossil fuels, private healthcare and arms manufacturers. ‘Erm, why does [Reeves] think a Cayman Islands-registered hedge fund gave Labour £4 million?’ asked one Twitter user. ‘Because they were bored?’ Quite. Rules for thee, but not for me!
Watch the clip here:
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