As well as being somewhat insouciant in his attitude to receiving and (not ?) declaring 'freebies', it might appear Starmer also lacks consistency regarding his political beliefs. I had not realised till now but Starmer has only been an MP since 2015 and has never held a Ministerial post.Yet somehow he gets to be PM !'Starmer was selected in December 2014 to be the Labour parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, a safe seat, following the decision of the sitting MP Frank Dobson to retire'.Handy: close to his Islington mansion.As regards to political beliefs he seems to have swung with the Labour Party wind when it comes to Brexit and our relationship with the EU.'During the 2016 European Union membership referendum, Starmer supported the 'BRITAIN STRONGER IN EUROPE' campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union (EU).Starmer was appointed to Corbyn's shadow cabinet as shadow home office minister in July 2015. He resigned from this role in June 2016 as part of the widespread shadow cabinet resignations in protest at Corbyn's leadership following the 2016 EU referendum result. Following Corbyn's re-election in the September 2016 leadership election, Starmer accepted a new post in the Corbyn shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for EXITING THE EUROPEAN UNION !During the leadership election, Starmer ran a left-wing platform and positioned himself in opposition to austerity, stating that Corbyn was right to position Labour as "the party of anti-austerity". He indicated he would continue with the Labour policy of scrapping tuition fees as well as pledging "common ownership" of rail, mail, energy and water companies, and called for ending outsourcing in the NHS, local governments and the justice system'.How many of these policies is Labour still committed too ?'Starmer was announced as the winner of the leadership contest on 4 April 2020.He later became more critical of the government's response to the pandemic following the Partygate scandal.In May 2022, Starmer said he would resign if he received a fixed penalty notice for breaching COVID-19 regulations while campaigning during the run-up to the Hartlepool by-election and local elections the previous year. The controversy surrounding the event was dubbed "Beergate".In July 2022, Durham Police cleared Starmer and said that he had "no case to answer".It is interesting to see that 'in August 2022, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, found that Starmer had breached the MPs' code of conduct eight times by failing to register interests on eight occasions'.So 'freebiegate' has been going on longer than one might have thought. 'Following the party's defeat at the 2019 general election, Corbyn announced that he would not lead Labour at the next general election after "a process of reflection".Starmer began to distance himself from Corbyn's leadership and many of the policies Corbyn put forward at the election, revealing in 2024 that he was "certain that we would lose the 2019 election" !As Labour leader, Starmer focused on repositioning the party away from the left and the controversies that plagued Corbyn's leadership, with promises of economic stability, tackling small boat crossings, cutting NHS waiting times and "rebuilding the NHS", worker rights enrichment, energy independence and infrastructure development, tackling crime, improving education and training, reforming public services, renationalising the railway network, and recruiting 6,500 teachers'.Are these still Labour policy commitments ?And let's not forget that the man responsible for cancelling pensioners WFA has made sure through personalised Parliamentary legislation (!) that as 'he's alright Jack' when it comes to his pension. -----BBC NEWS 22 March 2023'Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy by Conservatives over a tax exempt pension deal he has from a previous job.The Telegraph reported, Sir Keir got a special "tax unregistered" pension scheme when he stood down as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2013.Labour says it was standard practice for retiring DPPs to get such a deal.But senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith told The Telegraph it made a "mockery" of Labour's position on the lifetime pension allowance, and was as "close to hypocrisy as it is possible to get".The 'Pensions Increase (Pension Scheme for Keir Starmer QC) Regulations 2013'(!) introduced through secondary legislation, means the lifetime allowance does not apply to his contributions from his time as DPP between 2008 and 2013.The legislation means Sir Keir is exempt from paying tax on pensions savings over £1m. It is not clear whether the Labour leader has saved enough to have benefited from the scheme.After last week's Budget, Labour pledged to reverse plans to introduce similar exemptions for high-earners if it wins power'.🎼🎶"The working class can kiss my arse my pension will make sure I stay warm at last"
John Hawkes ● 31d