by A Labor MP has quit the party over the supplements scandal, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of presiding over “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” that is “out of scale”.
As she resigned from her post, Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield told Sir Keir she was “disgusted” by what he and his “inner circle” had done to “defame our once proud party and to humiliate”.
She declared him unfit for office after he “inexplicably” chose to wear designer clothes while pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies.
The dramatic resignation rocked Downing Street on Saturday night and came as Sir Keir faced mounting pressure from his own party to tackle the donation crisis.
In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Duffield said: “Someone with far above average wealth who chooses to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit on benefit payments puts children in poverty, and at the time same as accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses. it costs more than most of these people can fathom – he does not fully deserve to hold the title of Labor prime minister.
“To push a vote [on the winter fuel payment] to make many older people sicker and colder while you and your favorite mates enjoy free family trips to events that most people would have to save money for – why not the Are you showing the least bit of shame?”
Ms Duffield, 53, has been a consistent critic of the party’s approach to transgender issues and has not previously attended party conferences on the issue.
She is the fastest MP to jump ship after a general election in modern political history.
It came after Sir Keir admitted on Friday that Lord Alli had given him £32,000 to pay for clothes, double what he had previously claimed.
Sir Keir also received £2,400 from Lord Alli for glasses, and the use of an £18 million penthouse during the election campaign and on other occasions. Members of his initial team also announced large peer-to-peer donations.
On Saturday night, a frontbench source warned that Downing Street needed to change course, saying it was “getting to the point where it could be terminal”.
“If you’re always explaining, you’re losing. It looks like you’re doing something dirty,” they told the Telegraph. “Keir has to be straight and he has to draw a line.”
A growing number of Labor MPs as well as members of Sir Keir’s own Cabinet are understood to be frustrated by the new series, with one complaining that ministers need to be more “political”.
Cabinet ministers who have not already been swept up in the ongoing freebies saga are trying to distance themselves from it by privately emphasizing how modestly they dress and how little they wear designer clothes.
Some members of the Rose Network, Labour’s club for donors, are said to be uneasy about the direction of travel No. 10, with one long-time donor calling Sir Keir’s decision to accept so many designer clothes as donations “absolutely obscene”.
Members of Labour’s powerful ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), are also angry at the party’s handling of the new row.
Mish Rahman, a member of the NEC, said that Labour’s first conference since the election “should have been a lot of praise and celebration, instead it was being wasted talking about spending cuts and donations suspicious”. He said: “Honeymoons are at an all-time high and unease is spreading.”
Another NEC member told the Telegraph that the apparent “scramble for freebies” was “very embarrassing”.
“We have been waiting to go into power for a long time but it feels like the moment we do that there is a scramble for free goods,” they said. “The strategy around her is so poor – they couldn’t touch her.”
Other ministers are concerned about the negative rhetoric coming from Downing Street and the Treasury, particularly in the run-up to the Budget on 30 October. “The Budget will be painful,” said one minister. “But we can’t have this doom and gloom forever.”
Meanwhile, tensions remain with Sue Gray, Sir Keir’s chief of staff, and Government aides are locked in negotiations with Downing Street over their salaries, with many offered a pay cut compared to what they were earnings as opposition.
A number of special advisers are now threatening to quit, with one source pointing out that the job of being in government is much more difficult than they imagined, and saying that they can earn much more money in the sector private.
Another person confirmed the prospect of some senior aides walking away, but said this was more of a negotiating ploy to try to force a higher salary.
Sir Keir said last week that he would no longer accept money for clothes while in office, as did Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister.
Labor has demanded that all opposition parties invest in candidate presentations, including speech and media training, as well as photography and clothing.
But on Saturday, John Glen, the Shadow Paymaster General, reported Sir Keir to the parliamentary commissioner for standards and the registrar of members’ financial interests, demanding a fresh investigation.
In a letter to standards watchdogs, Mr Glen alleged that Sir Keir had failed to confirm who was behind the salaries of 14 of his aides in the run-up to the election and also raised questions about possible hospitality failures and gifts from lobbyists. announce.
Under the rules of the House of Commons, every House of Commons must ensure that anyone who holds a parliamentary pass as part of their office declares who pays for their salary and any other income they receive over £450 from the same source.
But Mr Glen points out that Sir Keir’s register of interests published on May 30 does not list any source of income for 14 of his aides.
In his letter to the commissioner, Mr Glen said: “The public has a clear interest in the most senior Parliaments following the rules, and in appropriate transparency regarding the corporate funding of Keir Starmer’s Parliamentary Office, and any gifts or hospitality associated with it . . This is not his first violation of the rules either.”
‘Lack of basic politics and political instincts’
In her resignation letter, first reported by The Sunday Times, Ms Duffield lambasted the Prime Minister’s “management style and technical approach”, saying “his lack of basic politics and political instincts has let us down as a party”. .
She said the revelation of “hypocrisy” was “appalling and increasingly appalling”, adding: “I cannot express how angry I and my colleagues are at your lack of understanding of the how you informed us all.”
A Labor Party source said: “The Labor Party, which has made this change, will not be taking any lectures from a Conservative Party which – year after year – has specialized in scandal, sleaze and corruption. .
“With the leadership of Keir Starmer, this Government is more transparent than ever, and is getting on with the job of delivering the change the country voted for on July 4.”
Nadia Whittome, Labor MP for Nottingham East, said: “Regardless of your views on her reasons for quitting, Rosie Duffield has made a political career out of dehumanizing one of the most marginalized groups in society.
“She should not have been given the privilege to resign. Labor should have withdrawn the whip a long time ago.”
Ms Duffield’s decision to leave the Labor party shows the Government is “self-serving”, Tom Tugendhat said.
Coming to the Conservative Party Conference, the Tory leadership hopeful told the BBC: “I think she’s made her point very clearly, hasn’t she?
“What the Labor Party and Keir Starmer’s Government are not about is service, it’s not about delivering for the British people, it’s about self-service.
“We need to return our government to service, we need to show the leadership that this country needs, and that’s exactly what I’m here to do.”
Asked if he would invite Miss Duffield to join the Conservatives, Mr Tugendhat said: “That’s really her decision, but I think she’s an extraordinary voice, she stood up for women’s rights, she stood up she stands for the dignity of individuals. across the country, and I think she’s a great advocate.”
Pressed again on the matter, he said Miss Duffield “has been a socialist for many years”, adding: “I very much doubt she will.”
