This morning, Keir Starmer was out justifying the £20,000 in “donations” from Labour peer Lord Alli towards accommodation, spinning the tale that his son needed a quiet place to study for his GCSEs. Cue the violin. Speaking to the Today Programme, Starmer said:
“My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed. We have lots of journalists outside our house where we live and I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine. But if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and it’s your one chance in life…I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.”
Naturally, Guido had a peek at the records. The dates of their luxury £20,437.28 stay? From 29th May 2024 to 13th July 2024. The first GCSE exam was on 9th May 2024, and the final one wrapped up on 19th June 2024. So, not only did Starmer’s son start exams weeks before they checked in, but his last paper was nearly a month before they checked out. How much “revision” time do you need in a five-star pad post-GCSEs?
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”