Prime Minister Keir Starmer can’t afford to pay back cost of clothes on his £167,000 salary, says donor
Sir Keir Starmer could not easily afford to pay back tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of freebies, according to prominent party donor Dale Vince.
The Prime Minister’s £166,786 salary is ‘not madly big’ and the amount he would have to return is ‘a lot of money’, according to the millionaire eco-tycoon.
Mr Vince, the founder of green energy firm Ecotricity, also insisted there was no ‘corruption’ involved in Sir Keir taking £32,000 from Lord Alli to use on clothes to improve his appearance.
His comments came after Sir Keir agreed to pay back £6,000 for freebies he has enjoyed since the election, including tickets to Taylor Swift and clothes for his wife – a fraction of the amount he has received in gifts and hospitality in recent years.
Mr Vince, who has donated £5.5 million to Labour since 2020, told Times Radio yesterday: ‘His salary is not madly big. I know that for a lot of people in our country on average pay, it’s a lot of money but if you take tax off that and then you say, can you afford to pay back 20 grand for some clothes that he wore during the election campaign as part of a makeover?’
Dale Vince said the Prime Minister’s £166,786 salary is ‘not madly big’ and the amount he would have to return is ‘a lot of money’
His comments came after Sir Keir agreed to pay back £6,000 for freebies he has enjoyed since the election
He added: ‘I mean, Waheed Alli gave those clothes, it came from a good place. It was to smarten Keir Starmer up for the election campaign to help him win and that kind of stuff and there’s not corruption in here. I don’t know anything about his finances … what I’m saying is, it’s a lot of money, even when you’re on 150 grand a year, 20 grand is a lot of money.’
It was claimed in court this week that Mr Vince’s estranged wife believes he is in line for a peerage from the PM – and is trying to rush through their divorce so she does not get a title of her own.
But Mr Vince insisted his wife and her barrister could not know that, adding: ‘I think that’s so grubby. I’m not even fractionally expecting, like even 1 per cent expecting, that. Not at all.’
Asked if he had been tipped off about getting a seat in the House of Lords, he replied: ‘No conversations, no nods, no winks, nothing.
‘I gave the money just for Labour to win the election. I’ve already said I don’t want anything in return.’
Last night, Mr Vince claimed the freebies row engulfing Labour made it impossible for Sir Keir to award honours to financial backers such as himself. He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Anyone who thinks that’s remotely possible isn’t reading the news right now.
Sir Keir admitted that he was not forcing his ministers to repay the cost of freebies
Mr Vince claimed the freebies row engulfing Labour made it impossible for Sir Keir to award honours to financial backers such as himself
‘Have you seen where Labour and Keir are in terms of scandals – or just gifts from donors? I mean come on, read the room.’
The Telegraph also reported that Lord Alli laid on hospitality for Labour more than 20 times in the year running up to the election.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir admitted that he was not forcing his ministers to repay the cost of freebies.
He said: ‘We are going to draw up some principles so that everyone can see the basis on which donations et cetera are being accepted.
‘I decided to repay so that any future activities, of me or anybody else, are in accordance with whatever the new principles are.
‘That is my personal decision, I am not saying others should do the same.’
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More migrants arrive in Dover after crossing the Channel on small boats – bringing 2024 total to 25,244 with more than 11,000 since Keir Starmer took office
Dozens of migrants have been intercepted after crossing the English Channel, bringing the total this year to 25,244 – including more than 11,000 since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.
The group of mainly men could be seen wearing orange life jackets as they disembarked at the Port of Dover in Kent.
They were ushered up the gangway at the Port’s western docks and taken into the immigration processing centre.
This comes as Yvette Cooper said more migrants would be removed from Britain thanks to a new agreement with other G7 countries.
The Home Secretary agreed an anti-smuggling action plan with nations including France and Germany. It included moves to send migrants back to their home countries either during their journey or when they reach their ‘destination country’.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel on October 4
A view of small boats and outboard motors used by people thought to be migrants on Friday
The agreement – signed at a summit in Mirabella Eclano, near Naples, Italy – said removals would take place ‘in full respect of human rights’.
The remit of the agreement will not allow Britain to remove Channel small boat migrants to France, however.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has repeatedly refused to consider such a deal.
The G7 agreement also said member states would allow for ‘increased options for migrants’ who agree to go home, but it did not go into detail.
In addition, there will be closer co-operation between police and border security agencies in each member state.
Ms Cooper said: ‘The plan will help to increase both voluntary and enforced returns of migrants to countries of origin.
‘It aims to offer migrants more choices and improve the overall management of migration flows.’
She added: ‘Our new government is rapidly accelerating cooperation with other countries to crack down on these dangerous gangs.
‘Today’s newly agreed G7 action plan provides an important focus on international law enforcement and reflects our determination to work with global partners on these shared challenges.
‘New international joint investigative teams will help coordinate cross-border action and supplement the measures we have already taken to set up the UK Border Security Command and back it with new funding.’
Labour has placed bureaucratic improvements at the centre of its plan to tackle small boats, in preference to major changes to immigration law.
One of the new Government’s first acts in power was to scrap the Rwanda asylum deal, designed by the Conservatives to give migrants a one-way ticket to the African nation to claim asylum there rather than here.
The new G7 agreement also said nations will work with social media platforms and internet companies to remove adverts by human traffickers.
It will include using artificial intelligence tools to identify the smugglers’ promotions more quickly.
Yvette Cooper said more migrants will be removed from Britain thanks to a new agreement with other G7 countries
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has repeatedly refused to consider such a deal
During the summit Ms Cooper held her first talks with France’s new interior minister Bruno Retailleau, and is due to visit northern France to inspect anti-trafficking operations in the coming weeks.
Turbulent weather in the strait had largely thwarted people smugglers in the last 12 days.
Only 79 people aboard two boats had been brought ashore at the Port of Dover since September 23.
The last recorded crossings took place on September 29 – when a boat packed with 59 migrants arrived in Britain.
But more settled conditions could bring a larger number across following the spell of poor sailing conditions.
A total of 25,244 migrants have crossed the Channel aboard 479 dinghies this year so far, according to Home Office figures.
This number includes the 11,670 in 206 boats that have crossed since Labour won the July 4 general election.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
‘As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.
‘We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
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A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover on Friday
‘We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad.
‘Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals.’
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Channel migrants will be housed in hotels at the taxpayers’ expense for up to three more years.
Ministers fear a backlog of asylum cases will take longer to clear than expected, meaning many migrants will remain long-term in the full-board accommodation.
About 30,000 migrants, most of whom arrived in Britain by small boat, are currently living in hotels at a cost of more than £4million a day.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper privately believes the backlog will take more time than initially expected to work through, with a knock-on effect on closing migrant hotels, the Times reported.
‘It’s going to take a lot longer to clear than we anticipated. It certainly won’t be cleared in a year,’ a Whitehall source told the paper.
