Georgia Pearce
Guest Reporter
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been blasted by GB News host Michelle Dewberry as she delivered her scathing verdict on his excessive donations.
The Labour leader is facing widespread backlash after businessman and party donor Lord Waheed Alli gave a large sum to Lady Starmer, which covered the cost of a personal shopper, clothes, and alterations.
In the latest development into the donations scandal, it was revealed that Starmer has also been gifted a corporate box by Arsenal football club as well as free concert tickets to Taylor Swift, both of which are valued at tens of thousands of pounds.
Addressing the row in Italy on Monday, Starmer assured that "rules are being followed", highlighting the "importance of transparency".
Hitting out at the latest Labour scandal on GB News, host Michelle Dewberry questioned whether Starmer had "any self-respect", branding the accepting of the donations "appalling".
Michelle fumed: "I would simply ask Keir Starmer this. If you're watching, have you got no self-respect? Have you got no dignity?
"What kind of grown-up individual, a professional one, needs another person to pay for their spectacles? Needs another person to buy their wife's clothes? Take away every other aspect of everything, where's your self-respect? Have a word with yourself. It's appalling."
Offering his view on the donations scandal, political commentator Aaron Bastani said it is "absolutely extraordinary" and he "struggles to understand" why the Prime Minister needs to accept donations for items such as glasses.
Bastani told GB News: "This is a man in his early 60s who's been earning six figures for a pretty long time. If you were earning £200,000 a year a decade ago, I struggle to understand why you need somebody else spending £2,485 on your glasses."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
In further criticism of the Labour leader, Bastani claimed that the high value of such donations is "diminishing his office" and suggests he is "taking freebies".
Bastani explained: "He's a knight of the realm, and he's taking what you say freebies to go watch the football and to watch Taylor Swift. I think in a way it doesn't just make him look silly and ridiculous, I genuinely think it's now getting to the point where it diminishes his office.
"It makes the Prime Minister, which is meant to be the highest elected office in this land, look almost ridiculous and cheap."
In agreement with Bastani, columnist Peter Hitchens says Starmer accepting the high-value gifts is "odd", and suggested the current Prime Minister is "clueless" as to how the scandal portrays him.
Hitchens said: "What I think increasingly is that he is perhaps actually clueless. Maybe he doesn't actually have anything much in the way of an imagination.
"Maybe he is a sort of man without qualities who really doesn't have the sort of ideas about how to behave that most people are granted."
He added: "And because of the acceptance of these gifts is quite minor on the scale of human behaviour. It's pretty ludicrous.
"Anybody can see he's being given clothes, he's been given glasses and his wife is being given clothes and help to buy them -it's really, really, really odd."
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The Labour leader is facing widespread backlash after businessman and party donor Lord Waheed Alli gave a large sum to Lady Starmer, which covered the cost of a personal shopper, clothes, and alterations.
In the latest development into the donations scandal, it was revealed that Starmer has also been gifted a corporate box by Arsenal football club as well as free concert tickets to Taylor Swift, both of which are valued at tens of thousands of pounds.
Addressing the row in Italy on Monday, Starmer assured that "rules are being followed", highlighting the "importance of transparency".
Hitting out at the latest Labour scandal on GB News, host Michelle Dewberry questioned whether Starmer had "any self-respect", branding the accepting of the donations "appalling".
Michelle fumed: "I would simply ask Keir Starmer this. If you're watching, have you got no self-respect? Have you got no dignity?
"What kind of grown-up individual, a professional one, needs another person to pay for their spectacles? Needs another person to buy their wife's clothes? Take away every other aspect of everything, where's your self-respect? Have a word with yourself. It's appalling."
Offering his view on the donations scandal, political commentator Aaron Bastani said it is "absolutely extraordinary" and he "struggles to understand" why the Prime Minister needs to accept donations for items such as glasses.
Bastani told GB News: "This is a man in his early 60s who's been earning six figures for a pretty long time. If you were earning £200,000 a year a decade ago, I struggle to understand why you need somebody else spending £2,485 on your glasses."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- Just say no, prime minister! Accepting gifts can embroil politicians in scandal early in their careers - Nigel Nelson
- Nigel Farage fires warning shot to Starmer over ‘two-tier’ Britain: ‘This is going to bite’
- Michelle Dewberry in feisty clash with ex-Labour MP on Starmer controversy: ‘So what?!’
In further criticism of the Labour leader, Bastani claimed that the high value of such donations is "diminishing his office" and suggests he is "taking freebies".
Bastani explained: "He's a knight of the realm, and he's taking what you say freebies to go watch the football and to watch Taylor Swift. I think in a way it doesn't just make him look silly and ridiculous, I genuinely think it's now getting to the point where it diminishes his office.
"It makes the Prime Minister, which is meant to be the highest elected office in this land, look almost ridiculous and cheap."
In agreement with Bastani, columnist Peter Hitchens says Starmer accepting the high-value gifts is "odd", and suggested the current Prime Minister is "clueless" as to how the scandal portrays him.
Hitchens said: "What I think increasingly is that he is perhaps actually clueless. Maybe he doesn't actually have anything much in the way of an imagination.
"Maybe he is a sort of man without qualities who really doesn't have the sort of ideas about how to behave that most people are granted."
He added: "And because of the acceptance of these gifts is quite minor on the scale of human behaviour. It's pretty ludicrous.
"Anybody can see he's being given clothes, he's been given glasses and his wife is being given clothes and help to buy them -it's really, really, really odd."
Find Out More...