Keir Starmer’s new support! PM raises eyebrows with new special wooden stand in the House of Commons – but WHAT is it used for?
Sir Keir Starmer has raised eyebrows by having a special wooden stand put out for his reading notes in the House of Commons.
Before the Prime Minister addressed MPs on Monday, one of Parliament’s doorkeepers unfolded a blue cloth, placed it on the despatch box then put a slanted wooden stand on top of it.
It prompted speculation that it might have been to help the PM read his speech more easily – and that perhaps he needed a stronger spectacles prescription just months after accepting £2,485 for ‘multiple pairs of glasses’ from Labour peer Lord Alli.
After the PM finished his statement on the first anniversary of the October 7 attack, Foreign Secretary David Lammy then helped remove the stand and cloth before he made his own statement from the traditional despatch box.
Sir Keir Starmer has raised eyebrows by having a special wooden stand put out for his reading notes in the House of Commons
One of Parliament’s doorkeepers unfolded a blue cloth, placed it on the despatch box then put a slanted wooden stand on top of it
After the PM finished his statement Foreign Secretary David Lammy then helped remove the stand and cloth before he made his own statement from the normal despatch box
Sky News’s chief political correspondent Jon Craig wrote online after spotting the stand being brought out: ‘Its purpose, it would appear, was to make it easier for Sir Keir to read his notes during his statement.’
It revived memories of former Labour PM Gordon Brown, who is blind in one eye, putting his notes on stacks of books that he balanced atop the despatch box.
But last night Downing Street insisted that Sir Keir’s eyesight was not the reason why he had the wooden stand put out for him.
It was claimed that he just uses the stand to hold his papers in place as it has a ledge along the bottom.
‘It holds his papers. He’s been using it since the King’s Speech,’ a source told the Mail.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves ‘plots to slash the 25% tax-free lump sum pensioners can access from their pots when they retire’ leaving millions of OAPs out of pocket in new Budget raid
Rachel Reeves could slash the the tax-free lump sum savers can currently take from their pension by almost two thirds, it emerged last night.
At the moment, most savers can take 25 per cent of their pension pot tax-free once they reach the age of 55, up to a maximum of £268,275.
But Treasury officials are weighing up the impact of reducing this limit to just £100,000.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that the move could impact up to one in five retirees.
The £268,275 figure is 25 per cent of the £1.073 million allowance, which used to be the maximum someone could build up in their pension pot without paying extra tax until the previous government scrapped it in April.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured at Labour conference last month). Treasury officials are weighing up the impact of reducing the tax free lump sum to just £100,000
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that the move could impact up to one in five retirees (file image)
The move, first reported in the Telegraph, could be seen as a further example of Labour’s war on pensioners.
Steven Cameron, of the pension company Aegon, said: ‘Many individuals will have planned their retirement finances on the assumption they could take 25 per cent of their full fund as a tax-free lump sum. Being stopped from doing so would cause a major outcry.’
Earlier this week the Chancellor relented on plans to reduce the 40 per cent pension tax relief for higher earners amid concerns it would unfairly hit those working for the public sector.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We do not comment on speculation around tax changes outside of fiscal events.’
