Starmer Asserts Control Amid Internal Turmoil Over Sue Gray’s Salary Dispute

[youreavinalaff]

7 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Starmer knows he has to take tough decisions , be unpopular and not pander to either wing of his party.  As @Chomper Higgot says, there's a long time until the next election.  More power to him.

He can be replaced anytime.

[Red Forever]

On 9/21/2024 at 3:36 AM, Social Media said:

 

Sir Keir Starmer has firmly denied losing control of his government, even as tensions flare within Downing Street regarding Sue Gray's salary. The Prime Minister was compelled to defend his leadership after the revelation of Gray's £170,000 salary, which surpasses his own, sparked internal discord. The leak, seemingly from Whitehall, has raised suspicions of a politically motivated attempt to undermine Gray.

 

 

Efforts are now underway to trace the source of the leak, as frustrations surrounding Gray's role as Starmer’s chief of staff mount. Gray, known for overseeing the "partygate" investigation into former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has become a lightning rod for discontent among Labour advisers. The controversy threatens to cast a shadow over Labour's upcoming conference in Liverpool, the first in 15 years with the party in power rather than opposition.

 

The conference, originally intended as a moment of celebration following Labour’s election victory, now risks being overshadowed by the internal strife surrounding Gray's salary and broader criticisms of Starmer's leadership. In a series of regional interviews ahead of the conference, Starmer was confronted with direct questions about his control over the situation and whether he had "lost grip" of his government.

 

"I’m completely in control," Starmer stated. "I’m focused, and every day the message from me to the team is exactly the same: we have to deliver. We were elected on a big mandate to deliver change, and I am determined that we are going to do that."

 

Pressed further on Gray’s salary, Starmer refused to engage in discussions about individual pay. "I’m not going to get into discussions about individual salaries of any members of my staff. I’m sure you wouldn’t expect me to," he responded to the BBC. However, concerns persist, particularly given that Gray’s pay was reportedly agreed upon outside formal procedures, raising questions about who initially proposed the figure.

 

 

Signs of growing dissatisfaction within Starmer's team have emerged, with some advisers on lower salaries expressing frustration. One Labour adviser remarked, "Sue is seen as the driver behind a clampdown on both overall Spad [special adviser] numbers and pay, so there was a great deal of surprise when it emerged she was setting records for her own pay." This frustration has fueled calls for Starmer to take decisive action, with one ally urging him to "read the f------ riot act" to prevent further leaks.

 

The situation has even led to speculation about future departures from the government. Simon Case, Britain’s top civil servant, is rumored to be preparing to resign following the conference season, with sources citing his strained relationship with Gray as a potential contributing factor. 

 

Beyond the Gray controversy, Starmer has faced scrutiny over his acceptance of donations and gifts, including more than £100,000 worth of free tickets and personal items since 2019. Defending his actions, the Prime Minister cited security concerns as the reason for accepting corporate tickets to Arsenal football matches, saying, "Since I’ve been Prime Minister, the security advice is don’t go in the stands, not least because it’ll cost a fortune to the taxpayer."

 

However, critics have noted that Starmer received numerous free tickets during his tenure as opposition leader, before security concerns were a significant issue. Starmer has also defended donations for clothing and glasses, declaring, "The important thing in all of this is that we follow the rules, which is really important to me, and make the declarations so that everything is transparent."

 

While some of Starmer’s supporters, like Baroness Harman, have suggested he could have handled the donations issue more gracefully, Harman acknowledged that it was "not a hanging offence." Instead, she proposed Starmer admit it was a misstep and move on.

 

Amid all these controversies, Starmer has also acknowledged the difficulties faced by the NHS in Wales, which is under Labour control, describing the system as in "desperate" need of reform. With record-high waiting lists and persistently poor health outcomes, Starmer's comments reflect the challenges his party faces in delivering the change it promised during the election.

 

As tensions over Sue Gray's salary, leadership questions, and donations persist, Starmer’s ability to steer his government through these crises will be tested, particularly as the Labour Party conference approaches. In his own words, however, Starmer remains confident: "I’m completely in control."

 

Credit: Daily Telegraph 2024-09-21

 

 

 

More right wing drivel from the Torygraph.

[Red Forever]

On 9/21/2024 at 12:20 PM, jippytum said:

Never has a new UK Prime minister with a massive majority had such a dismal start to his premiership than Starmer. 

Oh I don't know about that. Compare the 49 days of Truss and your contention of "Never...... " is blown out of the water.

[Red Forever]

6 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

           Plenty of time to continue the endless repetitive whinging about 14 years of an admittedly useless Tory  government whilst he and his new gang of incompetents  prepare their own memorable legacy which will no doubt be the same as the  one left by the last labour government.

          I cant imagine anything improving for anybody ever again regardless of which gang of self serving idiots is in the driving seat.   

         Deciding whether to  vote for the Tories or labour   is like having to choose which terminal disease one would prefer, I think both party's are already  fully aware of that and always have been.  its the electorate that needs to wake up. as  the  politicians have no inclination to change the system that has served them so well at our expense for such a long time.

"an admittedly useless Tory government"!

Jeez, that's really stretching the meaning of the phrase "Damning with faint praise".

[Bday Prang]

6 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Labour have made very clear that they are going to tackle the tax injustices that the very wealthy enjoy.

That is standard rhetoric  from them,      They are however remaining very quite about what they have planned for the rest of the population.   We will just have to wait and see, personally I am not optimistic

[youreavinalaff]

38 minutes ago, Red Forever said:

Oh I don't know about that. Compare the 49 days of Truss and your contention of "Never...... " is blown out of the water.

Truss wasn't voted in with a majority. She inherited one.

 

[Bday Prang]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Not me, I’m not I the least bit worried

Why would you be ?   In your eyes they can do no wrong .   Even if they introduced a "special" tax , targeting just you .   I'm sure you would be delighted.  You would be straight on here gushing about how you were now able to make more of a difference , 

(after 14 years of Tory .......)

[Chomper Higgot]

16 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

Truss wasn't voted in with a majority. She inherited one.

 

Just as well because she could never of won an election as leader of any party.

 

 

[Bday Prang]

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I look forward to the budget addressing structural inequalities within the tax laws.

After some reflection,  I too am looking forward to it,  I strongly suspect it will be another nail in the coffin, reducing his popularity further, his position could well become untenable 

[mokwit]

Just now, Bday Prang said:

That is standard rhetoric  from them,      They are however remaining very quite about what they have planned for the rest of the population.   We will just have to wait and see, personally I am not optimistic

I'm sure Mr Ali will not be affected. That's what a few grand in bribes gifts gets you.

Edited September 22 by mokwit

[Chomper Higgot]

39 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

After some reflection,  I too am looking forward to it,  I strongly suspect it will be another nail in the coffin, reducing his popularity further, his position could well become untenable 

You seem to have forgotten how the process of replacing a PM works, and that despite having been given so many recent examples.

 

MPs go after a sitting PM when their own tenure is placed at risk.

No Labour MP is looking down the barrel of loosing their seat, it’s not a thing for at least another 3 and half years , and only then if Labour under Starmer are failing to deliver for voters.

 

It is also without question that some very difficult decisions are going to have to be made in order to improve the UK economy and UK public services. Even if we swallowed the nonsense that Starmer is on shaky ground, why would any Labour MP want to take over the helm while those difficult decisions have yet to be made?

There is of course one reason, that of wanting more radical policies.

 

Which is why I say wait until the budget, we’ll then get a clearer view of Starmer’s means to achieve Labour’s manifesto pledges.

 

In the meantime we’ll just have to put up with the whining, whinging and bleating of those who still have come to terms with July 5.

 

 

Edited September 22 by Chomper Higgot

[stoner]

8 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

I cant imagine anything improving for anybody ever again regardless of which gang of self serving idiots is in the driving seat.   

 

This.

[Chomper Higgot]

8 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

I cant imagine anything improving for anybody ever again regardless of which gang of self serving idiots is in the driving seat.   

Let’s all give up then.

 

Let’s all buy into the lie that the parties are the same, succumb to defeatism, apathy and lethargy.

 

But before you do ask yourself this very simple question:

 

If you do, cui bono?

 

Because rest assured somebody benefits from voter apathy and they are the same people who promote it.

 

[mokwit]

Just now, Chomper Higgot said:

Let’s all give up then.

 

Let’s all buy into the lie that the parties are the same, succumb to defeatism, apathy and lethargy.

 

But before you do ask yourself this very simple question:

 

If you do, cui bono?

 

Because rest assured somebody benefits from voter apathy and they are the same people who promote it.

 

Only a fool votes "for" a party, most vote to keep the party that is even worse out.

[jippytum]

1 hour ago, Red Forever said:

Oh I don't know about that. Compare the 49 days of Truss and your contention of "Never...... " is blown out of the water.

Truss had just won an election with a massive majority did she?? 

I think not. 

[jayboy]

The most striking aspect to me in this story is how poorly paid is the British Prime Minister at about £ 170,000 pa.It in my view should be at least three times that amount.The Singapore PM gets six times that amount.There is no real private sector equivalent but an industry leader would get £ 1.5 -2 million p.a.If you wan t the best people they need to be paid well - it's an incredibly demanding job.

[Rampant Rabbit]

6 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

So you don’t like working people collectively negotiating for better pay and conditions.

 

I look forward to the budget addressing structural inequalities within the tax laws.

 

 

 

yeah thosed  poor  hard done by train drivers are really suffering. I blame  all those  bluddy pensioners raking in  £220 a  week £11492 disgusting.

 

The average train driver salary in the UK is £48,500 per year. Train drivers can expect to begin with an average starting salary of £30,000, with the highest salaries often exceeding £65,000.

Edited September 22 by Rampant Rabbit

[Chomper Higgot]

3 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

yeah thosed  poor  hard done by train drivers are really suffering

 

The average train driver salary in the UK is £48,500 per year. Train drivers can expect to begin with an average starting salary of £30,000, with the highest salaries often exceeding £65,000.

Please explain what is wrong with working people earning a decent wage, which incidentally isn’t huge?

[Chomper Higgot]

17 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Only a fool votes "for" a party, most vote to keep the party that is even worse out.

I’ll bow to your superior experience on the matter.

[jayboy]

10 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Please explain what is wrong with working people earning a decent wage, which incidentally isn’t huge?

 

Nothing.But generous pay increases (legitimate for doctors, much less so for train drivers) should always be negotiated to ensure improvements in productivity and efficiency.This government has caved in to train drivers and junior doctors without any kind of conditionality, and at the same time cut pensioners winter fuel allowance.There some reasonable arguments for and against, and I'm certainly not getting on a soap box.But by God this government is proving rotten at politics.Meanwhile the hapless Starmer, armed with his donated specs and suits, is seeing his popularity rating drop below that of Rishi Sunak.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, jayboy said:

 

Nothing.But generous pay increases (legitimate for doctors, much less so for train drivers) should always be negotiated to ensure improvements in productivity and efficiency.This government has caved in to train drivers and junior doctors without any kind of conditionality, and at the same time cut pensioners winter fuel allowance.There some reasonable arguments for and against, and I'm certainly not getting on a soap box.But by God this government is proving rotten at politics.Meanwhile the hapless Starmer, armed with his donated specs and suits, is seeing his popularity rating drop below that of Rishi Sunak.

Shall we pretend that the Train Drivers have not been negotiating and that the intransigence of the last Government didn’t cause necessary strikes with all the disruption that entailed.

 

Starmer just put an end to it all.

 

 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-breakthrough-in-rail-dispute-could-signal-end-of-national-strikes

 

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/08/mick-lynch-government-is-deliberately-ensuring-rail-strikes-go-ahead

[herfiehandbag]

9 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Labour have made very clear that they are going to tackle the tax injustices that the very wealthy enjoy.

Are they going to compell multi millionaires to fund new glasses and a new suit for everyone?

[Marcous]

6 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Perhaps go after the big numbers first:

 

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-07-25/debates/A07FA97A-AE40-4698-9AE1-B92F280D27D5/Covid-19PandemicCostToPublicPurseOfPublicProcurementFraud#:~:text=Latest estimates show £10.5,in the covid-19 schemes.
 

 

 

 

10.5 billion? Is that all? 

 

I thought the test and trace app alone cost 37 billion and somehow got lost down the back of the sofa. 

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-test-trace-dido-harding-report-b1814714.html

[Chomper Higgot]

4 minutes ago, Marcous said:

10.5 billion? Is that all? 

 

I thought the test and trace app alone cost 37 billion and somehow got lost down the back of the sofa. 

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-test-trace-dido-harding-report-b1814714.html

Do you believe non of the corrupt theft of public funds under the last Government should be pursued?

[Chomper Higgot]

5 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

Are they going to compell multi millionaires to fund new glasses and a new suit for everyone?

I suspect they will have some ideas around contributions from multi millionaires.

[youreavinalaff]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Just as well because she could never of won an election as leader of any party.

 

 

Never "have" won.

 

That appears to be a personal opinion. You don't like those. 

[jayboy]

58 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Do you believe non of the corrupt theft of public funds under the last Government should be pursued?

 

This is turning into something from Animal Farm.Labour spent the last five years screaming " The Tories are neck deep in sleaze.We will change that.Now the line is," they did that, why cant we?"

[RayC]

5 hours ago, James105 said:

 

It's not just the telegraph though is it?  Labour have lost:

 

1. The pensioners

2. The working class

3. The leftists

 

Even the likes of Novara media and Owen Jones are anti-Labour now.   According to a times YouGov poll 1 in 7 people who voted for Labour regret doing so.   His popularity ratings have already sunk lower than Sunak.   Those Labour MPs you cite probably want to stay as MPs for longer than a single term and with such a hypocritical, weak, incompetent, lying grifter of a leader who is trashing Labour's reputation and making the UK a global laughing stock, just how long do you think they will put up with this?  

 

There has not been any great enthusiasm for Labour since Starmer became leader, and he probably didn't have any great bedrock of support amongst the 3 groups you mention.

 

If I were Starmer I'd also feel absolutely buoyed by the news that I no longer had the support of Owen Jones and Novaro.

 

The overwhelming evidence to date suggests that Starmer is far from weak; in fact, the exact opposite. He can justifiably be accused of being authoritarian. Incompetent? I'd suggest that after less than 3 months in office, it's too early to jump to that conclusion. Hypocritical? Certainly looks like it. A liar? Well Starmer may have lied prior to becoming PM, but what lies have this Labour government told since taking office? 

 

Wrt how long Labour MPs will put us with Starmer - assuming no Johnson-like scandals occur - I'd suggest that it will be until at least 2028, unless these MPs see their future in the political wilderness.

 

As I have said previously, unless there is some bombshell of the "Starmer eats babies" type, it is wishful thinking on the part of some, if they think that Starmer will be ousted as PM anytime soon.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, jayboy said:

 

This is turning into something from Animal Farm.Labour spent the last five years screaming " The Tories are neck deep in sleaze.We will change that.Now the line is," they did that, why cant we?"

Like ‘Animal Farm’ your account is fiction.

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, youreavinalaff said:

Never "have" won.

 

That appears to be a personal opinion. You don't like those. 

She was a laughing stock from the offset, even The Sun had challenged her shelf life with a lettuce, and the lettuce won.

 

The laughing stopped when her rightwing zealotry came within hours of causing a run on Sterling and collapsing the UK’s pension industry.

 

But I do accept, she has her admirers;  there’s no accounting for taste.

 

Edited September 22 by Chomper Higgot