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UK Politics General Discussion
- Thread starter Matt.GC
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If you work for a local authority you have it drilled into you not to accept freebies from the public or business because of optics. Once again politicians don't have to follow the same standards as everyone else. I don't really care what or was not accepted by individual politicians, it's the double standards I don't like.
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
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Keir Starmer has not been receiving freebies from the public. He's been receiving, and declaring, gifts from a fellow colleague and a member of his party. Lord Alli has been a Labour peer since 1998.
There aren't any double standards here.
Oh there are you know...but only in the right wing media.
So I just need wealthier colleagues who can send me gifts then.
Matt.GC
TS Member
It's drilled into us not to accept gifts for favours either. As far as I'm aware, no favours have been granted, unless you include a Labour peer visiting Downing street, the seat of a Labour Government, a "favour"? Didn't the last Tory Government also allow a Tory peer access to Downing Street? Some bloke involved in the Greensil scandal in fact? Lord Cameron I think his name was. They even made him a minister.
We have a yearly training module on it. But that doesn't stop trade unions and suppliers funding our conferences every year, giving us gift bags, supplying booze and food. Or my boss buying me a birthday present every year. Or his boss giving me a a bottle of bubbly at Christmas. Or the area beanos like bowling.
Once again, this has been completely blown out of proportion. If you read the reports in the Telegraph and Daily Hatemail carefully, they stop short of accusing government ministers of anything untoward, just loads of allusions to "oh isn't terrible, aren't they evil? They're taking your winter voting bribe away whilst being lavished with gifts. And that awful Angela Rayner even went on a holiday! What terrible people they are."
All written by journalists who are probably being wined and dined by opposition politicians themselves to write nasty stories about their political enemies. And their millionaire media baron bosses by even more.
Again, not a good look and terrible timing. But sadly, customary practice. Boo, "it's one rule for them, and another for the rest of us", Hiss "they're all the same" and all that, yada yada. Bearing in mind the Autumn Budget is coming up at a time when national debt has just hit 100% of GDP after 14 years of breathtaking financial mismanagement, we should think ourselves lucky if this is the single biggest thing they do (when they were in opposition I might add) that has an impact on our lives this year.
We have a yearly training module on it. But that doesn't stop trade unions and suppliers funding our conferences every year, giving us gift bags, supplying booze and food. Or my boss buying me a birthday present every year. Or his boss giving me a a bottle of bubbly at Christmas. Or the area beanos like bowling.
Once again, this has been completely blown out of proportion. If you read the reports in the Telegraph and Daily Hatemail carefully, they stop short of accusing government ministers of anything untoward, just loads of allusions to "oh isn't terrible, aren't they evil? They're taking your winter voting bribe away whilst being lavished with gifts. And that awful Angela Rayner even went on a holiday! What terrible people they are."
All written by journalists who are probably being wined and dined by opposition politicians themselves to write nasty stories about their political enemies. And their millionaire media baron bosses by even more.
Again, not a good look and terrible timing. But sadly, customary practice. Boo, "it's one rule for them, and another for the rest of us", Hiss "they're all the same" and all that, yada yada. Bearing in mind the Autumn Budget is coming up at a time when national debt has just hit 100% of GDP after 14 years of breathtaking financial mismanagement, we should think ourselves lucky if this is the single biggest thing they do (when they were in opposition I might add) that has an impact on our lives this year.