Lady Starmer is certainly an elegantly dressed woman. As befits the wife of the Prime Minister, she clearly chooses her wardrobe with great care.
The couple certainly can’t be short of a shilling or two. Sir Keir pockets £166,000 a year as prime minister, Victoria earns a handsome salary in occupational health, they live rent-free in Number 10 and own a house in London.
So, given their wealth, why do they resist buying their own clothes?
Last month we revealed that Labour donor Lord Alli had provided Sir Keir with smart suits during the election campaign.
We now learn that the businessman also footed the bill for a personal shopper and fancy dresses for Lady Starmer.
Sir Keir pockets £166,000 a year as Prime Minister, Victoria earns a good salary in occupational health, they live rent-free in Number 10 and own a house in London. (Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria outside Downing Street)
In opposition, he sanctimoniously promised to restore honesty and integrity to politics. (Keir and Victoria Starmer arrive to cast their votes in the general election)
The prime minister could face an ethics inquiry after failing to disclose gifts to his wife in accordance with parliamentary rules.
Perhaps it was a mere oversight. But there is more to it than the Labour leader being stingy. There is more to it than a whiff of sleaze.
After the election, someone gave Lord Alli an all-access pass to all areas of Downing Street and allowed him to make recommendations for key public appointments. Was this a reward for his generosity?
Then there is the stunning hypocrisy. When a Tory donor paid for some rolls of wallpaper so Boris Johnson could redecorate flat 10, Labour led an uproar. Now accused of breaking the rules, Sir Keir thinks we should move on.
In opposition, he sanctimoniously promised to restore honesty and integrity to politics.
But just 73 days after coming to power, his regime is neck-deep in cronyism, attacks on his union friends and now Armariogate.
Far from cleaning up the squalor, the prime minister seems determined to take it to a whole new level.
Degrees of duplicity
Some students receive up to £18,500 of public money in grants, loans and council tax rebates, and then simply disappear. (File image)
In a shocking investigation, the Mail today reveals how illiterate students without GCSEs were able to pocket thousands of pounds in taxpayers’ cash in a fraud facilitated by top universities.
Higher education is supposed to be the exclusive domain of the brightest minds, but our reporters have uncovered that the supposedly rigorous system is being seriously abused.
The problem lies in so-called “franchise” universities. This is where a university hires an outside organisation to deliver a course on its behalf.
Students are recruited by companies that receive a fee for each student. But that creates a perverse incentive to sign up candidates – however unsuitable – including entire families and people who barely speak English.
Some students receive up to £18,500 of public money in grants, loans and council tax rebates, and then simply disappear.
Because everyone involved (students, course providers and universities) are guaranteed funding under this system, the scam has proliferated undetected.
He mocks students who sweated blood to get a place at university.
The Office of Students is investigating and so should the Department of Education.
The sad truth is that our once world-famous university sector now seems to care more about making money than maintaining the highest educational standards.
n SIR Keir meets the Italian Prime Minister today to learn lessons after she slashed illegal immigration into his country. But his apparent determination to stop small boats is undermined by the fact that he scrapped the Rwanda plan just when it showed signs of working. With 801 migrants crossing the English Channel on Saturday and eight drowning yesterday, the Prime Minister needs a deterrent to end this evil trade in human misery.
