Donor debacle: Starmer shows he is not 'morally superior' from the last government | John Rentoul

"Starmer held himself out to be morally superior to Boris Johnson, but here he is doing exactly the same thing."

As more details emerge in the Downing Street donor scandal, Keir Starmer "isn't looking great" having spent years in opposition criticising the former government for accepting lavish gifts, says John Rentoul, The Independent's chief political commentator.

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[levelboy]

I don't think the media has realised yet just how utterly damaging and finishing this is for Starmer and his party, people hate nothing more than hypocrites, they are done!

[sammic]

Starmer is worse than Boris, at least Boris never pretended to be morally superior and bang on about following the rules. Starmer is so sanctimonious it's sickening, and has come back to bite him on the ass, and he has had more freebies than any other MP by twice as much, has he never heard about people in glass houses and stones?

[teamev]

Starmer is far far worse than Boris Johnson. And he’s only just started !

[lewis]

They're worse because they're hypocrites. Be a different story If they didn't spend their entire time in opposition talking about sleaze

[robertnewton]

It is the double standards
That apply to keir starmer
You cannot criticise your
Political opponents
And then behave in the same way
That they did
Will Lucy Powell buy him
A duck house

[bunbwre]

Labour has taken a 4 million pounds donation from a Cayman Island hedge fund? Is that even allowed if it's not a British company?

[nockianlifter]

With socialism, hope is all you have.

[guyplessier]

At least Boris left the wall paper when he left office, so will Starmer leave his suits and glasses when he’s gone?

[Geoff-nd]

Starmer is exponentially worse than Boris,

[tewman]

Lord Alli throwing his money about seems to be cropping up a bit too much. It all smells of political corruption. I'm sure the truth of his gift giving will emerge in the very near future!

[paulbrowne]

They were having beer and curry nights through COVID....did you just not realise he was a hypocrite?

[jeanetteeftekhar]

Worse because they oretended to be whiter than white. Boris never pretended to be anyone but himself.

[markeast]

He's worse cos he covered it up. Who's Alli? Why would you let someone else buy clothes for your wife?

[tapaarn]

They appear to have been rather arrogant and dismissive about the whole debacle. To the poor and vulnerable, including pensioners that are going to lose out this winter, a politician accepting a reported £100, 000 in gifts over the past five years is a bit of a kick in the teeth. It's all about perception, and the perception is, it stinks!

[johncooper]

As bad as Boris? You’re fucking kidding he’s a thousand times worse

[colbr]

Boris could see how people thought he was wrong. Keir Starmer simply can't accept when he is wrong.

[vinay]

Starmer is an AI robot, he was being trained as leader of the opposition during PMQ. He learnt something from Boris Johnson and learnt his political acumen from Liz Truss. Nvidia are looking to give him a GPU upgrade.

[paulbrightwell]

This will keep coming back on Starmer - it might be forgotten but every time a pensioner dies from the cold - it will be remembered, especially if he keeps accepting gifts. Just saying you wont accept clothes as gifts won't cut it - any gift should be given to charity - by all MPs

[glennet]

They keep saying they haven’t broken any rules but they made the rules, or appointed the people who did.

These rules are completely different from those that apply to anybody else, civil servants aren’t allowed to accept gifts, nobody is.

[martinstone]

Terrible government with zero morals; so much for a fresh start.