Rachel Reeves is back in the spotlight as the Tories accuse her of potentially breaching parliamentary rules by failing to fully declare a holiday gifted by Labour donor – and notably now Labour Mayor for West Midlands – Richard Parker. True to form of a Labour politician, Reeves enjoyed a week at Parker’s £1,400 holiday home in Padstow last July. Though while she logged the stay, she conveniently omitted that family members also enjoyed the trip…
In a revealing chat with Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning, Reeves admitted to taking a “family holiday,” a slip that could land her in serious trouble. The Code of Conduct is clear: MPs must register any benefit given to third parties if they are aware of it. Shadow Exchequer Secretary Gareth Davies weighed in, highlighting the potential fallout from this oversight:
“It appears that Rachel Reeves has broken parliamentary rules as she has failed to properly declare a donor gifted family holiday. This Chancellor has endlessly preached about the importance of integrity and honesty but now it appears she might well have broken the rules, just like the Deputy PM.”
Labour are fast becoming the party of opacity and cronyism…
Ongoing scandal is blighting the start of Labour’s conference in Liverpool, and the historical examples of embattled Labour ministers crowing about the Tories are coming thick and fast. The scandal is also running one of Labour’s major policy ideas into the rocks…
New York tourist Angela Rayner’s main campaign in the run up to the General Election was that a new Labour administration would overhaul the standards system. She said in a speech to the Institute for Government in November 2021:
“Under the next Labour government the rules will be strengthened. Enforcement will be toughened up, independent of political control. Labour’s new Independent Ethics & Integrity Commission will oversee and enforce standards in Government, ending the current situation in which the Prime Minister is the judge and jury on every case of ministerial misconduct. We will create a new, genuinely independent Ethics and Integrity Commission.”
Labour has made little progress on the Commission since it was elected. In an update to the Commons in July, Pat McFadden said:
“It is important to restore confidence in Government and public life, and to ensure the best possible standards. This was an important manifesto commitment. We will establish a new independent ethics and integrity commission, with its own independent chair, to ensure the highest possible standards. Work has begun on that, and I will keep the House up to date as it develops.”
Civil service insiders are now wondering how Labour can dismantle the current standards system and replace it with a new Commission, given the current heat. A number of sources looking at the proposals tell Guido that it will be near impossible to take forward given the current situation. Looks like Rayner will not get her political court after all…
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was rolled out this morning to defend Labour’s donations scandal ahead of her big conference speech. Speaking to LBC and the Today Programme, she sheepishly conceded that she understands why it might seem “a little bit odd that politicians get support for things like buying clothes.” To say the least…
Reeves then boldly claimed she “doesn’t think” these donations put her “into conflict in any way.” Interesting take, considering Ian Corfield, one of Reeves’ donors, was handed a cushy job in the civil service earlier this year, until the “cash for jobs” row forced an embarrassing U-turn. Worth remembering that back in 2021, Reeves pledged to “clean up” politics after firing shots at “crony” contracts going to Conservative friends and donors. So much for “Change Begins”…
The government line on successive crony scandals just keeps getting better and better. Home office minister Jess Phillips had the morning round today and managed to come up with a novel explanation for Starmer’s accepting £16,200 in clothes from Lord Alli. Which handily didn’t get declared…
“The truth of is that probably somebody turned up to his office and said ‘oh you know I think you need a fancy suit,
here’s one’ and he probably took it, I don’t know that he was going out and seeking it.”
That line’s sure to help. When Philips was asked why Alli would spend thousands on someone’s suits, her answer was: “Because I think he probably wanted a Labour government.” They made her a minister, remember…
It doesn’t look like Labour’s high-minded attitude to cronyism and chumocracy will stop blowing up in its face anytime soon. Despite Starmer launching a leak inquiry into the briefings against Sue Gray…
Guido can now reveal that the government is pushing through dozens of ‘exceptions,’ which allow it to circumvent usual impartiality rules in making civil service appointments. From 5th July 2024 to 19th August 2024, the Civil Service Commission approved a total of 70 exceptional appointments. That includes 16 senior-level positions for directors…
37 ‘temporary appointments’ were pushed through in Labour’s short initial period, alongside 20 secondments from outside the civil service. DSIT leads the pack with a whopping 12 exceptions alone, including an appointment to the highest pay band from £127,000 to £208,100. This is the system that allowed Labour Together Starmtrooper Jess Sargeant to be appointed as a Deputy Director in the all-knowing Propriety and Constitution Group…
The Commission says it is “keen to reduce” the number of civil service exceptions it makes while it launches a “rapid review” into Labour’s crony appointments. Government of Self-Service latest…
Labour spent their time in opposition on a moral crusade, wagging their fingers at Tory “cronyism” and promising they’d be the ones to “clean up politics.” Though Starmer’s lofty pledges to govern “with openness and transparency in everything we do” are not ageing well…
After 76 days in power, the Cabinet Office’s list of SpAd interests still hasn’t been published. Maybe Sue Gray (on £170,000-a-year salary) and her slow appointments of SpAds — is to blame for the delay…
In the past, these lists have revealed commercial ties and side gigs of SpAds. So, it’ll be interesting to see given current events – if and when Labour finally releases it – especially with some whispers suggesting advisers are being part funded by Labour-linked advisory firms. One for the transparency Starmer preaches, surely…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”