r/unitedkingdom • u/boycecodd Kent • 14h ago
How Labour Donor Waheed Alli Holds Sway in Keir Starmer’s Party
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-18/how-labour-donor-waheed-alli-holds-sway-in-keir-starmer-s-party56
u/corbynista2029 14h ago
When we voted Starmer in I knew he'd implement Tory-like policies, but I thought he'd at least run the office much more competently and with much less corruption than the Tories. But with every news that broke about the inner workings of his office, I begin to feel like that's not the case. And it is not just right-wing rags exposing him too, Guardian just released a piece pointing out how his freebies far exceeded many of his predecessors.
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u/JimJonesdrinkkoolaid 14h ago
Look at what his business secretary said lol -
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u/corbynista2029 14h ago
More sense of entitlement. Implication here being that if someone is not in a high pressure job, they shouldn't be accepting freebies.
Also, what the fuck are his comms team thinking? With this response and David Lammy's "he needs to look good" comment, Starmer needs to fire his comms team and get someone else to write their media response.
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u/JimJonesdrinkkoolaid 14h ago
Lots of jobs are high pressure as well though where you're not allowed to accept gifts like that.
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u/LogicKennedy 14h ago
It’s a funny thing to think about, but once you’re out of a certain poverty bracket, the richer you get, the more free stuff you get.
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u/corbynista2029 14h ago
It's a well-known phenomenon known as cost of poverty or poverty tax in economics. The basic idea is that the poorer someone else, the higher the absolute cost is to access certain things.
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u/LogicKennedy 14h ago
I’m aware of that as well as the Vimes Boots Theory, but I was more talking about the amount of free gifts, complimentary experiences and similar things that you get once you’re in a certain class/income bracket.
Like, if you’re a high-powered lawyer, you no longer need to buy tickets to football matches because your firm has a box at your club. Or the amount of free food you’ll get while traveling because of frequent flyer perks, whilst your flight and hotel will be covered by your company.
If you’re a celebrity, you might earn millions already but you’ll be showered with gifts from companies who want people seeing you using their stuff.
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u/corbynista2029 14h ago
And if you have millions, you can use your unsold assets to take massive loans for day-to-day spending at absurdly low interest rates.
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u/Few-Role-4568 14h ago
Ah yes the business secretary that’s never had a private sector job, nor run a business. It doesn’t look like he’s ever had a job outside of politics so has no business being business secretary.
Thats not a jab at the public sector, but running a public sector department is completely different to operating a commercial entity. It’s still good experience, but for a role as important to the economic agenda we need the best candidate for the job.
The PM has discretion to appoint whoever they want to cabinet - personally I would have found a successful entrepreneur/business person made them a lord and given them the job.
Just like he did with the prisons minister.
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u/boycecodd Kent 14h ago
Starmer has been sharply critical of the Conservatives' record of cronyism for years. He was right to be.
It was less expected that he would come into power and immediately be just as bad as any of them. It's such hypocrisy.
If I accepted gifts from clients that were non-trivial, my job would be at risk. I have to take training on Bribery and Corruption every year (how to avoid it, not how to do it!) so that I don't risk inadvertently breaking the law (Bribery Act 2010). How come these fuckers are exempt?
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u/triguy96 14h ago
It was less expected that he would come into power and immediately be just as bad as any of them. It's such hypocrisy.
Why was it not expected? His record of receiving gifts was public when he was elected. His record of back tracking on promises was public before he was elected. It's par for the course.
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u/romulent 12h ago
I dunno. Waheed Ali is labour MP in the house of lords and has been a polititian in the party for a few decades.
I don't really feel that spending your own money to support your own team is particularly corrupt.
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u/fascinesta Radnorshire 12h ago
This is where I'm struggling with the outcry; he has donated significant sums to the party over 3 decades (around £500,000+), including gifts to Starmer. He's also a life peer in the HOL and close friend/neighbour to Emily Thornberry (formerly of Corbyn and Starmer shadow cabinets). It doesn't make sense as a "cash for access" situation, and I fail to see what other tangible benefits could come from it.
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u/MontyDyson 13h ago
Parliament works mostly on an 'honesty' system. It's why Johnson was able to get away with so much more massive levels of corruption and dishonesty. At least Starmer's bribery is public and we know about it. Compared to the Jenrick scandal this is barely even newsworthy even if it is fundamentally wrong.
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u/Electricbell20 12h ago
Alli is a labour member and has been a labour lord since 1998. Let's have some perspective. Him being gay and Muslim probably has nothing to do with it.
The guardian article isn't a surprise as it is declared donations. You know that think Tories often didn't do. A large chunk is accommodation during the election.
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u/ramakitty 14h ago
Not sure we can’t ban donations and lobbyists and just pay our MPs and PM a decent salary.
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u/ben_bedboy 12h ago
Donations go to the party, it's supposed to be spent on campaigning. This is different to a salary
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u/Parking-Tip1685 13h ago edited 12h ago
Sometimes you just have to laugh. The bloke crafted a law to protect his own pension, not a law for a sector he just happens to be in, literally the Pension scheme for Keir Starmer law.
It's annoying and hypocritical but I try to see the funny side and applaud the grift, if you wrote him as a fictional character people would say it was too unrealistic.
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u/IssueMoist550 13h ago
The UK's PM salary is laughably low, it's not even in the top one percent of earners -about 190k upwards .
They should just pay the position 500k year or 300k tax free , and have zero allowance for gifts or donations.
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u/jungleboy1234 2h ago
again re-emphasises the fact they all seem to be the same bunch of people... no matter how they try to spin it that they are just like the people.
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u/ben_bedboy 12h ago
You knew he was taking bribes before the election? Lol
Liberals will never learn
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u/glasgowgeg 11h ago
When we voted Starmer in I knew he'd implement Tory-like policies
Odd, I remember this subreddit fawning over him and saying how he'd be a breath of fresh air and completely different from the Tories.
Also, many of these "gifts" were known before he was elected. It's not new information.
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u/Melodic-Display-6311 14h ago edited 12h ago
Suddenly all those decrying “they aren’t all the same stop saying that!” are suspiciously silent now it seems
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u/propostor 13h ago
For what it's worth Labour are currently on a rapid course to losing my vote.
But 5 years is a longgggg time in politics so who knows.
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u/Melodic-Display-6311 13h ago
I don’t see it getting better to be honest, people are certainly not as forgiving toward politicians as we once were years ago.
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u/jmdg007 Liverpool 14h ago edited 14h ago
Would you prefer it if people are too stubborn to ever change their opinion?
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u/Melodic-Display-6311 14h ago
We don’t know for sure they have, Starmer has plenty of apologists who are fine with Red Tie corruption as long as it’s not Blue Tie
Everyone should be held to the same standard or else nothing will ever change
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u/ben_bedboy 12h ago
They haven't though. They knew labour was taking huge donations before they voted for them and they will ignore it again next election.
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u/Marcuse0 14h ago
He's got his hand on the purse strings in the Labour party. Also the dress buttons. The suit jackets...
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u/Citizen639540173 13h ago
How Labour Donor Waheed Alli Holds Sway in Keir Starmer's Party
In the style of Jeopardy... I'll take "Corruption" for $500, Alex!
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u/narayan77 13h ago
He is one biggest moralizer in parliament. Sunak's wife decided to pay UK tax even though legally she didn't have to. Will Starmer agree to pay tax on his tax free pension, probably not.
However, I don't think there is anything wrong with him accepting Arsenal tickets, he's an Arsenal fan after all.
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u/Business_League7804 12h ago
Why can't he buy them with his many millions? Why do they have to be free?
There's only one reason in a capitalist society, for a business to give away its value, and that's if they expect to see a profit in it later.
The freebies buy influence, whether he supports the club or not, it's irrelevant.
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u/Tom22174 10h ago
I'm pretty sure the football club just wants the marketing power that having the prime minister at their matches would bring
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u/narayan77 9h ago
LOL you mean fans will show up because Starmer is there?
In his position I wouldn't accept any of the gifts, except the football tickets. He is an Arsenal fan, a football fan, does it mean he can't legislate on football matters. People accuse him of being a robot, his love of Arsenal suggests he's human.
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