“Outrageous!” “Ridiculous.” “They do not have a clue!”
Those are not descriptions of the prime minister’s behaviour that Labour would want to hear on any week – but especially not as thousands of members and MPs pack their bags for the party’s conference in Liverpool.
For the first time in 15 years senior figures will make speeches as government ministers, not opposition politicians – with the power, responsibility and scrutiny that goes alongside it.
That scrutiny, in the last seven days, has brought an uncomfortable range of stories and headlines, from donations to dresses and pay to power struggles.
The prime minister, the prime minister’s wife, the deputy prime minister and even – as we learned last night – the chancellor all accepted thousands of pounds worth of free outfits. Sir Keir Starmer’s had to defend his use of a free corporate box to watch his beloved Arsenal.
For days the public defence was that it sat “all within the rules” – but what is allowed, and what the public approves of, are not the same thing.
One disappointed party source tells me “it’s breathtaking” that less than three months after a stunning election victory, “they (Number 10) have allowed it to be the story”.
Late on Friday, Number 10 tweaked its position, saying the PM, chancellor and deputy PM would no longer accept free clothes. That, in itself, is a tacit admission that they’d got it wrong.
Ministers publicly describe the fuss over frocks and football tickets as a “distraction” – a word politicians like to use when they are describing something they know is embarrassing and find hard to explain.
But this time, the public have certainly noticed.
Source:
www.bbc.com
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