Yesterday Guido revealed the PM filmed his 2021 Christmas Covid broadcast from Lord Alli’s £18 million Covent Garden penthouse. He urged people to work from home as he sat in someone else’s home…
Downing Street sought to calm the storm by saying no rules were broken – heard that one before – and it was a ‘one-off’ use of the place. One-off eh…
The Guardian wrote:
“No 10 said Starmer was completely confident he had broken no rules when in Alli’s flat. The clip was recorded for work purposes and it is understood he was only using the flat as a one-off.”
Unfortunately for Downing Street, exactly 37 minutes after their line was published Guido went to pixel with evidence that Starmer paid tribute to the Queen on the day of her death from the very same ‘one-off’ penthouse. Gone were the family photos – replaced with some dark urns and books including an Obama biography…
This is going to become untenable for Keir Starmer. The revelations about Lord Alli’s apartment have only just started…
A lot of people will be aware of the rules around gifts to MPs right now thanks to the coverage of Labour’s Cronygate scandal. They state:
“Members must register any gifts or benefits with a value of over £300 which they receive from a source outside the UK. They must also register multiple benefits from the same source if taken together these have a value of more than £300 in a calendar year.”
That includes “hospitality in the UK, including receptions, meals and accommodation.” Starmer used Lord Alli’s £18 million penthouse to produce a political message in 2021. That does not appear on the register of financial interests during the period.
It does appear for recent similar use of the penthouse this year: “Accommodation, value £20,437.28.” Why did Starmer not declare his previous use of the property?
Starmer’s team have made changes to the register this year following “advice” sought from authorities. They said they “believed we had been compliant, however, following further interrogation this month, we have declared further items.” If they want to clarify this, they had better do it fast…
As Guido has uncovered, Starmer pretended Lord Alli’s penthouse was his own during his righteous Covid broadcast, where he condemned Boris and lauded the “Plan B” restrictions. Here are some pressing questions our “Mr Integrity” Prime Minister must answer:
- December 2021 was Plan B—guidance rather than rules—but we know he criticised Boris for breaching guidance. Why did he ignore the guidance to work from one’s home if possible?
- Plan B clearly stated to “work from home if you can“—he even acknowledges this in his video. So why did he accuse others of breaching guidance while he was working from someone else’s home?
- If the Privileges Committee focused on breaches of guidance rather than the rules, why didn’t he follow the same standard?
- Did he declare the use of someone else’s home as a benefit when MPs must register any gifts, benefits, or hospitality they receive from UK sources with a value over £300?
- How long did he stay at Alli’s penthouse in 2021?
- Why did he put pictures of his own family on the shelves behind him to make it seem like it was his own home?
- Why, if he claims to want no photos of kids out in public, did he include that in the background?
Some for the transparency Starmer preaches, surely?
Speculation is rife as to how long Starmer has been using Lord Alli’s properties. He declared £20,000 worth of ‘accomodation’ use during the election, revealed to be for meetings and to watch the election result. The PM’s team came up with an explanation for him to use – it was for his son to study somewhere away from journalists during once in a lifetime GCSE exams…
Guido cast his mind back to December 2021, when Starmer produced a Christmas video message during the pandemic to attack Boris but praise the new Plan B system. Co-conspirators might just recognise the designer-made bookshelf in the background of the video from pictures of the office room in Lord Alli’s £18 million penthouse. Complete with postcards and family photos…
The video was broadcast on BBC One at 7 p.m, 13th December. Five days prior to Starmer’s message the government announced the entirety of England would be moved to Plan B rules in response to the fast spread of Omicron. According to the regulations those who could were meant to work from home. ‘Mr Rules’ even said in the video message:
“It will be easy to let the festivities we’ve all been looking forward to divert us from our national duty. Getting jabbed, wearing masks, and working from home if we can really will help prevent infections and help prevent the NHS being overwhelmed.”
Guido’s not sure working from home rules included working from someone else’s home. Must have been nice to head up to the massive roof terrace after that was done though…
Starmer said too many journalists were outside his house and his son needed somewhere quiet to study for his GCSEs. Who else but Lord Alli was there to provide…
Alli’s £18 million penthouse in Covent Garden is the perfect choice for any studious 16-year-old. Of Alli’s known properties (the other is a Kent mansion) this is the most likely – it’s one Starmer already admitted using for meetings and on election night. With three en-suite bedrooms to choose from, the flat offers panoramic views of London from no fewer than two terraces, all to help soak in crucial facts…
After a few hours of work in the spacious office any teen would let off steam in the games room before settling down to watch some telly in the dedicated TV room. A large roof terrace offers yet another study location with “lush evergreens” to keep the air fresh…
With 5,000 square feet of space there’s little chance a revising teenager would be disturbed by anyone else using the property, like Starmer and his team. Imagine how big the house is going to have to be for A-Levels…
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?
