Newly elected UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing an investigation over a potential rules breach after a controversial Labour donor paid for his wife’s clothes. According to the Sunday Times, the donations covered the clothes, cost of a personal shopper and alterations for Victoria (the wife of the PM), both before and after the general election. The story reveals that Lord Waheed Alli, a British media entrepreneur who is also a Labour peer and is Sir Keir’s biggest personal donor, paid for a personal shopper in addition to designer garments and alterations for Lady Starmer. He has also given Sir Keir £16,200 of work clothes and £2,485 for several pairs of glasses in the past year, as well as spending £20,000 on his accommodation during the general election campaign. Last year in the June, Sir Keir also received four tickets with hospitality to watch Coldplay perform at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, worth £698. Interestingly, the Prime Minister has not only recognized it but also registered all such financial transaction and benefits in the relevant register. He continuously sought advice from authorities and updated related information accordingly. However, he had been given incorrect or confused advice over some items related to his wife. But even then, the prime minister approached parliamentary authorities on last Tuesday( the day allegation was probably launched) to make a late declaration after being given fresh advice on what items needed to be disclosed. The PM insisted there was a “massive difference between declarations and corruption” and therefore signalled he would carry on taking gifts from Labour peer Lord Alli amid a backlash over his wife’s clothes. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told the BBC that the prime minister did declare funds that he received from Waheed Alli. He’s then gone back to the parliamentary commissioner to further check details on some of those funds that have made their way to his wife. He also added that the truth is that successive prime ministers do rely on political donations so they can look their best both in the hope of representing the country.
We are not confirmed about the authenticity of the allegation and therefore are not trying to prove anyone to be false or true, but we definitely want to pay tribute to the organized and transparent system of such societies, which immediately takes action without caring about the rich & the poor, the dominant and the subjugated. The rules that govern Member Parliaments’ conduct state that politicians must register all benefit received and have to update their register of interests on a month-by-month basis. Newly MPs are required to declare gifts within 28 days. Sir Keir Starmer had been appointed as Prime Minister in July, 2024 and expected to register such gifts in August 2024 which positively been registered except some benefits related to his wife which would not cost exceeding of £2000/3000. It was only two months after he declared such benefits, but he fell under the law. The prime minister was also previously referred to the parliamentary standards commissioner in 2022, when he was found to have been late in registering eight interests, including tickets to football matches and the sale of a plot of land. The Country has been disturbed due to his negligence and his damaging attitude. The British, rather tolerating their corrupt leaders, find even their misconduct intolerable.
Last year, the government here in Pakistan, made public the details of foreign gifts retained by public office holders — presidents, prime ministers, federal cabinet members, politicians, bureaucrats, retired generals, judges and journalists from 2002 to 2022. As per the documents, most of the gifts were retained by the office holders free of cost except for a few ones. In return for the gifts received from foreign dignitaries, these public office holders, especially the rulers, gave away gifts worth millions of rupees to the foreign delegates. These blessings and rewards are not limited only to the top leaders, every employee, whether he was an officer or a subordinate, benefited from it. Would you believe that the Concord watch that was gifted to leaders like Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill was also gifted to one of our fifth scale employee here in Pakistan? Valet, constables, guards, LDC’s and such others employees of lower staff received luxury gifts free of cost. You will also see the name of several saints, religious leaders, professors, scientists in the list of beneficiaries.
I wish the system would be strengthened in Pakistan instead of personalities. Decisions would start to be made on the basis of right and wrong instead of friends & foes. Justice may be given preference upon liking and disliking.
The writer is a professor of Islamic Studies at Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan
