UK Politics

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has been accused of handing “gold-plated pensions” to his top team while pensioners across the UK brace for the consequences of a cut to winter fuel payments.On Wednesday, it emerged that Sue Gray was awarded a salary of £170,000, around £3,000 more than the prime minister and more than any cabinet minister or her Conservative predecessor.The Conservative Party claimed Sir Keir had “snatched away support for the vulnerable”, while handing large pensions to his senior officials. Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of handling “gold plated pensions” to his top team“It’s one rule for Labour and their trade union paymasters, another for everyone else,” a Tory party spokesperson said. “No wonder Labour has shown no restraint in axing winter fuel payments for suffering pensioners, as Keir Starmer and his top apparatchik have gold-plated pensions at taxpayers’ expense.“Starmer must come clean on how much taxpayers are being billed for Labour’s pensions, while he snatches away support for the vulnerable.”In July, Rachel Reeves announced that older people not in receipt of pension credits or other means-tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments from this year onwards – a change that will impact around 10 million pensioners across the UK. On Wednesday, it emerged that Sue Gray was awarded a salary of £170,000 More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House Correspondent Less than three months after he was elected on a promise to restore trust in politics, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is trying to shake off criticism over donations from a wealthy businessman and the hefty salary of his most senior aide.The Labour Party leader, who won power in a landslide victory on July 4, denies impropriety over thousands of pounds (dollars) worth of clothes and eyeglasses paid for by Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and longtime Labour donor.Starmer is also facing grumbling among his own employees over the salary of chief of staff Sue Gray. The BBC disclosed that she is paid 170,000 pounds ($225,000) a year — about 3,000 pounds more than the prime minister’s salary.Gray’s salary is at the top of a set of pay bands for political advisers, which have been raised since the election. The government said it did not interfere in setting the pay scale.“The pay bands for any official, any adviser, are not set by politicians. There’s an official process that does that,” Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Thursday.In recent days British media have been full of largely anonymous grumbling from government officials about Gray, a former senior civil servant best known for leading an investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic.Gray’s findings helped topple Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and her subsequent move to work for Starmer led the Conservatives to claim the “partygate” probe was politically biased, something Gray denies.Labour claims the leak of Gray’s salary and the donation revelations -– branded “frockgate” in the press after dresses bought for the prime minister’s wife, Victoria Starmer — is being whipped up by the Conservatives and their media supporters to tarnish the government.Lawmakers are allowed to accept gifts but have to declare donations and extra-parliamentary income within 28 days. Starmer missed the four-week deadline to declare the donations of clothes and a personal shopper for his wife from Alli. He says the delay was due to his staff seeking advice on exactly what needed to be declared.“I’m very consistent with following the rules,” Starmer said this week. He rejected suggestions that prime ministers should get a wardrobe budget, saying taxpayers should not have to pay for politicians’ clothes.The scale of the freebies accepted by Starmer has raised eyebrows even among supporters. Sky News reported that Starmer has declared “gifts, benefits and hospitality” worth more than 100,000 pounds since December 2019, more than any other lawmaker.The donations include thousands of pounds’ worth of tickets for Premier League games involving Starmer’s beloved team Arsenal.“I’m a massive Arsenal fan,” Starmer told reporters during a trip to Rome this week. “I can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore, if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality I can’t go to a game. You could say, ‘Well bad luck.’ … But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.” More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentSir Keir Starmer has been given the use of a corporate box by Arsenal football club worth thousands of pounds, it has been reported, amid the ongoing row over the prime minister’s donations. The PM – a season ticket holder and an avid supporter of the team – used the box for the first game of the season according to ITV News. The prime minister is unable to use his normal Arsenal seats as a result of security concerns.The box is advertised as costing at least £8,750 per game.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the stands during a Premier League match at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton (Mike Egerton/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFind out moreCloseAs your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn’t have the resources to challenge those in power.Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November electionAndrew FeinbergWhite House CorrespondentAn error in the negotiation of post-Brexit trade rules has reportedly delayed the replacement of the UK’s Border Force fleet, increasing the cost to the taxpayer by hundreds of millions. According to The Times, the replacement of five cutters and six patrol vessels used to monitor Britain’s borders and pick up people attempting to cross the Channel are delayed until at least 2030, while costs are likely to increase to £300 million — six times the original budget.Dame Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, described the situation as a “cock-up” from the previous government, saying the error was “entirely avoidable”.Rules agreed as part of the UK’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after exiting the EU in 2020 mean that government contracts must be open to international competition.More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since Labour won the general election (Gareth Fuller/PA) More