3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
I know that were I not married with Children I would be happily retired. Instead I rather enjoy periods of time off between contracts (really should start looking for one to cover at least the winter).
I retired in my early 40’s but take consultancy roles that I find interesting for various contacts as I like the mental challenge and would otherwise turn into an alcoholic if I was doing nothing all week.
I thought that was what I would do forever but my latest consultancy has spun out into me creating a brand new investment business for my client and it’s really become my baby and so will run it for the foreseeable future as it’s made me feel totally energised.
Unfortunately for Downing Street, exactly 37 minutes after their line was published Guido went to pixel with evidence that Starmer paid tribute to the Queen on the day of her death from the very same ‘one-off’ penthouse. Gone were the family photos – replaced with some dark urns and books including an Obama biography…
This is going to become untenable for Keir Starmer. The revelations about Lord Alli’s apartment have only just started…
Cavaet emptor....recent record on scalps is very poor, and he was giving the big 'un during the GE about a scandal that was nothing.
It's what you do. It's called FILM MAKING. You don't let a film crew into your house unless you are demented. Houses are not designed to shoot in so you recreate them. I really cant believe the morons they're letting onto this site anymore.. I know Livermore hasn't got a brain but I thought you would be more clued up.
Huh, are you having a problem reading. My comment is buyer beware, have heard it all before, not convinced at all. However, this is a political betting website, its sort of relevant that somebody is claiming they have big dirt coming.
Then why repeat such an absurd story? You wouldn't shoot anything in someones house. You either use a studio with a set designer with a brief 'recreate Starmer's home' or you get a location finder to find somewhere that would be suitable.In other words you build the set on location.
Typically it would be several times the size of someone's house to acomodate a crew of abut 12 and equipment that would take up more space than the crew.
You expect this ignorance from Guido and his super-dim readers but not on PB.
And how much would the cost of this location hire and a crew of 12 and equipment cost and who is paying?
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
Bored out of his mind? I retired at 62 from a very demanding job and have never looked back. The only times I'm bored are when brushing my teeth and, I suppose, reading x, y and z's posts on this otherwise fabulous site - though the latter is optional, of course.
Truthfully: although retired, I wish there were more hours in the day. It's such fun not having the chains of paid work.
You are obviously a much more interesting person than I am. I am 63 this week and really wouldn't know what to do with myself without having work that felt purposeful and useful. I intend to keep this up as long as my health allows.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
That is my worry, and my wife’s worry. I can watch some of my DVD's of old TV and films but that novelty will soon wear off.
Reckon for the first month I will just get used to it then get board.
So I plan to clear out the loft and I have so much tat to sell. Old DVD’s, Dr Who books, Magazines and the like that will go for cash.
Also plan to wash and Vinted my Dad’s old branded sports tops as well as some of my clothes.
Volunteering is part of my plan to keep occupied as well as a short 2 day a week job.
Maybe in 9 months I get bored and I seek a lower waged interim role. I don’t know.
What I do know is I no longer enjoy this, have enough put aside and in pensions to retire and live the life I enjoy, and I no longer want to do this. I am tired of the constant demands for info and the priorities chopping and changing every 4 months or so.
I just feel I have worked since the 6th Sept 1982 pretty much non stop and need a break.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
Bored out of his mind? I retired at 62 from a very demanding job and have never looked back. The only times I'm bored are when brushing my teeth and, I suppose, reading x, y and z's posts on this otherwise fabulous site - though the latter is optional, of course.
Truthfully: although retired, I wish there were more hours in the day. It's such fun not having the chains of paid work.
That is good to hear but I think DavidL's point is well intentioned and it will be for me to make the best of it and make sure I am not bored.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
Congrats on your retirement. Make sure you keep active and see the world. Enjoy yourself.
Thank you, we certainly plan to.
I also plan to do some volunteer work as well, I am great at home brew so I will also learn how to make chutnies and relishes.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
Bored out of his mind? I retired at 62 from a very demanding job and have never looked back. The only times I'm bored are when brushing my teeth and, I suppose, reading x, y and z's posts on this otherwise fabulous site - though the latter is optional, of course.
Truthfully: although retired, I wish there were more hours in the day. It's such fun not having the chains of paid work.
I'm not likely to be able to afford to have the choice to escape wage slavery before I'm 70 - a mixture of a first marriage ending in divorce, a period of severe depression, and a (dearly beloved) second wife long unable to work for health reasons, has wrecked the family finances sufficiently to put it out of reach, but I think I'd cope well with it.
The important thing is to be able to create some time structure, and activities that get you out and among other people.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
Bored out of his mind? I retired at 62 from a very demanding job and have never looked back. The only times I'm bored are when brushing my teeth and, I suppose, reading x, y and z's posts on this otherwise fabulous site - though the latter is optional, of course.
Truthfully: although retired, I wish there were more hours in the day. It's such fun not having the chains of paid work.
That is good to hear but I think DavidL's point is well intentioned and it will be for me to make the best of it and make sure I am not bored.
Sorry, I wasn't being remotely critical of David L's point, and obviously it's horses for courses. I have simple tastes, and am content just reading, walking, eating, drinking and thinking - no daytime TV (except occasionally sport). But I'm well aware that others would find my lifestyle boring.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
No pressure? Provided the shelf and its contents don't fall over of course!
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
That is my worry, and my wife’s worry. I can watch some of my DVD's of old TV and films but that novelty will soon wear off.
Reckon for the first month I will just get used to it then get board.
So I plan to clear out the loft and I have so much tat to sell. Old DVD’s, Dr Who books, Magazines and the like that will go for cash.
Also plan to wash and Vinted my Dad’s old branded sports tops as well as some of my clothes.
Volunteering is part of my plan to keep occupied as well as a short 2 day a week job.
Maybe in 9 months I get bored and I seek a lower waged interim role. I don’t know.
What I do know is I no longer enjoy this, have enough put aside and in pensions to retire and live the life I enjoy, and I no longer want to do this. I am tired of the constant demands for info and the priorities chopping and changing every 4 months or so.
I just feel I have worked since the 6th Sept 1982 pretty much non stop and need a break.
Good luck to you. It doesn't sound quite like retirement anyway, if you're still working part time (which is a good idea).
Regarding the volunteering, have a look at this. https://ivnetwork.org.uk/become-an-iv/ Not for everyone, but an incredibly valuable service, and not a huge time commitment (though you have to be committed to it).
The Tories really do need to think about how they managed to lose to this mob. How they managed to be even worse, and make them look superficially attractive to many.
14 years in government. We're not a one party state.
I don't recall the same sense of ineptitude about any government in the first few months of the time in office. Apart, perhaps, from Johnson's in 2019.
TBF there was Fizzy Lizzy's first 1.5 months, and Rishi Sunak's entire term spent on political efforts to backside cover for the Election, and any difficult decision, even the most basic stuff, being pushed out into 2025.
I'm nto sure about Gordon Brown in detail, but then we are back into the 1970s and Ted Heath etc.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
Congrats on your retirement. Make sure you keep active and see the world. Enjoy yourself.
Thank you, we certainly plan to.
I also plan to do some volunteer work as well, I am great at home brew so I will also learn how to make chutnies and relishes.
I do not want to sit and vegetate at home.
No, that's the last thing you should do. When I 'retired' at 65 I got myself a series of part-time jobs to top up my pension, for five years, and my wife and I indulged our hobby of cricket-watching. We had several trips to places both near and far and then one of our sons found himself a wife and subsequently family, in the Far East, which meant we travelled to see the grandchildren and took the opportunity to go further afield. We both became active in local affairs as well. We also found the u3a which meant we made new friends and could become involved in new activities, both physical and intellectual. Now in our 80's and me physically somewhat disabled we've cut right back on the travelling and down on the activities, but we still keep going. I had a very pleasant afternoon at the u3a's Wine Appreciation yesterday, for example!
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
Bored out of his mind? I retired at 62 from a very demanding job and have never looked back. The only times I'm bored are when brushing my teeth and, I suppose, reading x, y and z's posts on this otherwise fabulous site - though the latter is optional, of course.
Truthfully: although retired, I wish there were more hours in the day. It's such fun not having the chains of paid work.
You are obviously a much more interesting person than I am. I am 63 this week and really wouldn't know what to do with myself without having work that felt purposeful and useful. I intend to keep this up as long as my health allows.
The law's a bit like that though ? I have a couple of retired friends who have since retirement become magistrates.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life.
Some of us are old enough to remember when Gordon Brown couldn’t let a PMQs go by without at least one mention of Lord Ashcroft, to massive cheers from the benches behind him.
Hope Rishi and the four Tory leader candidates also remember back to those days.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
Congrats on your retirement. Make sure you keep active and see the world. Enjoy yourself.
Thank you, we certainly plan to.
I also plan to do some volunteer work as well, I am great at home brew so I will also learn how to make chutnies and relishes.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
No pressure? Provided the shelf and its contents don't fall over of course!
I had to stop home brewing as I could not drink all I have made !!!!
The wines from fruit I am leaving a year anyway but the wine from cartons of fruit juice, the beers from kits as well as the beer from root ginger I drink immediately.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.
Given how much time Starmer spent in opposition obsessing about anything that could be perceived as the slightest bit whiffy with the government, one didn’t expect himself and his party to be absolute stinkers within weeks of getting the job.
The Premier League spent more than £45m on legal costs over the 2023-24 football season in an effort to fight alleged rule breakers.
The body that runs England’s top flight is currently in ongoing disputes having also concluded proceedings on a number of matters across last season.
Everton were hit with two separate points deductions for breaches of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) relating to losses made versus money spent. Fellow club Nottingham Forest were also punished for breaching the same rules.
Promoted Leicester City survived a Premier League investigation earlier this season, potentially denting hopes of future PSR cases.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.
Given how much time Starmer spent in opposition obsessing about anything that could be perceived as the slightest bit whiffy with the government, one didn’t expect himself and his party to be absolute stinkers within weeks of getting the job.
We seem to have arrived at the point that Labour supporters must dread ' breaking news' stories as the stories have spun out of control
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.
Given how much time Starmer spent in opposition obsessing about anything that could be perceived as the slightest bit whiffy with the government, one didn’t expect himself and his party to be absolute stinkers within weeks of getting the job.
We seem to have arrived at the point that Labour supporters must dread ' breaking news' stories as the stories have spun out of control
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.
Given how much time Starmer spent in opposition obsessing about anything that could be perceived as the slightest bit whiffy with the government, one didn’t expect himself and his party to be absolute stinkers within weeks of getting the job.
We seem to have arrived at the point that Labour supporters must dread ' breaking news' stories as the stories have spun out of control
In other words - what next ?
The budget, eventually.
A lot can happen between now and the end of October!!!!
So I plan to clear out the loft and I have so much tat to sell. Old DVD’s, Dr Who books, Magazines and the like that will go for cash.
The Virgin New Adventures still sell well as they're permanently out of print.
Tell me about it. I have So Vile a Sin, Lungbarrow and Dying Days in Mint condition too. I also have the Missing Adventures and many of the EDA's and PDA's as well as plenty of the figures.
I have the first DWW's with transfers.
I also have the Big Finish Novellas.
Just looked at EBAY. The ones I mentioned always went for good money. But it looks like the money on offer for the range as a whole is just silly.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Speculating - I'd suggest that this may be around a Power of Attorney, which most likely would be held by a sister. And cannot be changed once the person loses capacity; I'm not sure of the detail of whether a person holding the power can transfer it - it would I think be a lengthy, difficult process.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss.
Given how much time Starmer spent in opposition obsessing about anything that could be perceived as the slightest bit whiffy with the government, one didn’t expect himself and his party to be absolute stinkers within weeks of getting the job.
We seem to have arrived at the point that Labour supporters must dread ' breaking news' stories as the stories have spun out of control
In other words - what next ?
The budget, eventually.
A lot can happen between now and the end of October!!!!
But it's a long, long time ... Autumn Reeves leaves falling ...
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
I'm waiting for the Good Law Project and Led By Donkeys to get onto this too.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
I'm waiting for the Good Law Project and Led By Donkeys to get onto this too.
I think that's about as likely as the Prime Minister turning down a freebie.
So she supports a man who tried to inflame tensions during the riots and whose turned twitter into even more of a cesspit .
She supports a succesful African-American entrepreneur who has created businesses and jobs in the US and overseas and may well get a person onto Mars.
But none of those firms look to be in a position to need to invest in manufacturing in the UK at the moment and Twitter is (shall we say) not a firm that is paying much attention to international law at the moment.
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
I'm waiting for the Good Law Project and Led By Donkeys to get onto this too.
The Good Law Project has closed down after the election.
Because Starmer is a lawyer they knew this would be a government of integrity.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Speculating - I'd suggest that this may be around a Power of Attorney, which most likely would be held by a sister. And cannot be changed once the person loses capacity; I'm not sure of the detail of whether a person holding the power can transfer it - it would I think be a lengthy, difficult process.
The Lords one is more opaque on financial disclosures, though even the Commons one is heavily obfuscated.
Yes, I wondered whether that was the case.
Interesting point though, if acting on sister's affairs as PoA, does it have to be declared, if a then a gift to the sister, rather than the MP? I can see a moral argument for yes, certainly, but not sure of the legality (I hold PoA, legal and medical, for my parents, but have not had to use it yet - although the medical PoA has been helpful getting doctors I phone up to talk to me).
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
It's an interest free £1.2M loan on property. The loan will be paid back on gaining probate and sale of property (that the MP has also been living in). What about the value of the property, has that changed, who will benefit? Assuming this Labour MP is the beneficiary of the estate of her sister, she has saved a lot of money that her sister would normally have had to have paid, that has instead been paid of the loan.
Understand that it is a friend helping out, but surely the Labour MP has potentially gained massively from this, in numerous ways.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Speculating - I'd suggest that this may be around a Power of Attorney, which most likely would be held by a sister. And cannot be changed once the person loses capacity; I'm not sure of the detail of whether a person holding the power can transfer it - it would I think be a lengthy, difficult process.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
It's an interest free £1.2M loan on property. The loan will be paid back on gaining probate and sale of property (that the MP has also been living in). What about the value of the property, has that changed, who will benefit? Assuming this Labour MP is the beneficiary of the estate of her sister, she has saved a lot of money that her sister would normally have had to have paid, that has instead been paid of the loan.
Understand that it is a friend helping out, but surely the Labour MP has potentially gained massively from this, in numerous ways.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
There doesn’t seem to be anything in the act that suggests MPs are exempt?
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Speculating - I'd suggest that this may be around a Power of Attorney, which most likely would be held by a sister. And cannot be changed once the person loses capacity; I'm not sure of the detail of whether a person holding the power can transfer it - it would I think be a lengthy, difficult process.
The Lords one is more opaque on financial disclosures, though even the Commons one is heavily obfuscated.
Yes, I wondered whether that was the case.
Interesting point though, if acting on sister's affairs as PoA, does it have to be declared, if a then a gift to the sister, rather than the MP? I can see a moral argument for yes, certainly, but not sure of the legality (I hold PoA, legal and medical, for my parents, but have not had to use it yet - although the medical PoA has been helpful getting doctors I phone up to talk to me).
I did use it for one of mine, and we went a little further by having a joint bank account - which meant the bank could not freeze all her money on the spot because it was also my account - and leave us potentially high and dry. So we had some available to pay for expenses, legal expenses and so on.
All accounted for during probate, of course.
The most difficult point was a series of banks that withheld access to a series of savings accounts totalling 6 figures until after probate had been granted. Others did not withhold access. That went towards paying IHT, but was a total pain.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Like most of the other gifts and 'favours', loans to an MP's family would be a big no-no under my mandatory FCPA training. I do hope no-one involved has any presence in the States...
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
All Starmer has to do is announce an investigation and that he will stand down if he is found to have done wrong. I’m sure he will do so.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
All Starmer has to do is announce an investigation and that he will stand down if he is found to have done wrong. I’m sure he will do so.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
All Starmer has to do is announce an investigation and that he will stand down if he is found to have done wrong. I’m sure he will do so.
Sue Gray to lead it?
There is nothing quite as exciting as waiting for a Sue Gray report.
So she supports a man who tried to inflame tensions during the riots and whose turned twitter into even more of a cesspit .
She supports a succesful African-American entrepreneur who has created businesses and jobs in the US and overseas and may well get a person onto Mars.
But none of those firms look to be in a position to need to invest in manufacturing in the UK at the moment and Twitter is (shall we say) not a firm that is paying much attention to international law at the moment.
Which is nothing to do with the point I was making which was in regards to how different people see Elon Musk.
So she supports a man who tried to inflame tensions during the riots and whose turned twitter into even more of a cesspit .
She supports a succesful African-American entrepreneur who has created businesses and jobs in the US and overseas and may well get a person onto Mars.
And, hopefully, bring them back again. That's too often forgotten in the hyping of his dreams.
Kennedy said: "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth". Without that last clause, NASA would have had a much easier job...
Unfortunately for Downing Street, exactly 37 minutes after their line was published Guido went to pixel with evidence that Starmer paid tribute to the Queen on the day of her death from the very same ‘one-off’ penthouse. Gone were the family photos – replaced with some dark urns and books including an Obama biography…
This is going to become untenable for Keir Starmer. The revelations about Lord Alli’s apartment have only just started…
Cavaet emptor....recent record on scalps is very poor, and he was giving the big 'un during the GE about a scandal that was nothing.
It's what you do. It's called FILM MAKING. You don't let a film crew into your house unless you are demented. Houses are not designed to shoot in so you recreate them. I really cant believe the morons they're letting onto this site anymore.. I know Livermore hasn't got a brain but I thought you would be more clued up.
Huh, are you having a problem reading. My comment is buyer beware, have heard it all before, not convinced at all. However, this is a political betting website, its sort of relevant that somebody is claiming they have big dirt coming.
Then why repeat such an absurd story? You wouldn't shoot anything in someones house. You either use a studio with a set designer with a brief 'recreate Starmer's home' or you get a location finder to find somewhere that would be suitable.In other words you build the set on location.
Typically it would be several times the size of someone's house to acomodate a crew of abut 12 and equipment that would take up more space than the crew.
You expect this ignorance from Guido and his super-dim readers but not on PB.
And how much would the cost of this location hire and a crew of 12 and equipment cost and who is paying?
I have only shot one PPB and it was for Paddy Ashdown. It was called Maggies Broken Britain. His script was written by a senior copywriter at JWT who was a keen Lib Dem. He gave his time for free as did I and my production company.
The studio crew and equipment would have been paid by the Lib Dems. We had two lunches in L'Escargot where the bill would have been picked up by the Party or us as the production company as an act of goodwill. I can't be certain but the one thing I can be certain of is that not a penny would have been paid by Paddy Ashdown nor would you expect it to have been!
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 12m Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham · 10m You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
Whoops. That kinda stinks.
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
I'm waiting for the Good Law Project and Led By Donkeys to get onto this too.
The Good Law Project has closed down after the election.
Because Starmer is a lawyer they knew this would be a government of integrity.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
All Starmer has to do is announce an investigation and that he will stand down if he is found to have done wrong. I’m sure he will do so.
Bad political strategy imo.
I suggested the other day that Mr Starmer needs to triangulate this into an investigation into expenses over the last period, and proposals for improvements to the system. If it goes back to 2019 that brings all the dumped-into-history Conservatives into the frame.
That will take some time and leaves the same sword of Damocles hanging over the Opposition eg potentially Jenrick and BoJo, without putting only Mr Starmer's own neck in the noose.
There's no reason why it can't be Judge lead, but it would need a defined timescale - perhaps 1 year, with legislation to be brought forward pronto.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
All Starmer has to do is announce an investigation and that he will stand down if he is found to have done wrong. I’m sure he will do so.
Sue Gray to lead it?
Bad political strategy imo.
I suggested the other day that Mr Starmer needs to triangulate this into an investigation into expenses over the last period, and proposals for improvements to the system. If it goes back to 2019 that brings all the dumped-into-history Conservatives into the frame.
That will take some time and leaves the same sword of Damocles hanging over the Opposition eg potentially Jenrick and BoJo, without putting only Mr Starmer's own neck in the noose.
There's no reason why it can't be Judge lead, but it would need a defined timescale - perhaps 1 year, with legislation to be brought forward pronto.
That's far too obvious an attempt to save is own neck.
So she supports a man who tried to inflame tensions during the riots and whose turned twitter into even more of a cesspit .
She supports a succesful African-American entrepreneur who has created businesses and jobs in the US and overseas and may well get a person onto Mars.
And, hopefully, bring them back again. That's too often forgotten in the hyping of his dreams.
Kennedy said: "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth". Without that last clause, NASA would have had a much easier job...
Mars to Stay is a thing. Aldrin backed it - though I'm not sure I'd want to risk the people back home getting bored and just giving up on me.
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
Has Starmer perhaps been using the flat as his own for months and only declared the period around the election to avoid any difficult questions around campaign spending?
Who knows? The British public certainly don't and Starmer is keen to keep it that way.
If I'm right then the explanation about his son's GCSEs is just a cover story.
All Starmer has to do is announce an investigation and that he will stand down if he is found to have done wrong. I’m sure he will do so.
Bad political strategy imo.
I suggested the other day that Mr Starmer needs to triangulate this into an investigation into expenses over the last period, and proposals for improvements to the system. If it goes back to 2019 that brings all the dumped-into-history Conservatives into the frame.
That will take some time and leaves the same sword of Damocles hanging over the Opposition eg potentially Jenrick and BoJo, without putting only Mr Starmer's own neck in the noose.
There's no reason why it can't be Judge lead, but it would need a defined timescale - perhaps 1 year, with legislation to be brought forward pronto.
He was directly asked by Rigby if he would change the rules and nothing to see here
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
There doesn’t seem to be anything in the act that suggests MPs are exempt?
I hate the terms bribery and the racist word blackmail.
I prefer the term incentive based decision making.
On the Tory leadership - it's all gone a bit quiet of late. This article, which doesn't appear to be paywalled, seems a reasonably good summary of where we're up to:
I've eventually resigned myself to a Jenrick victory, only to spot a route to victory for Kemi: if Kemi really is, and remains, the members' choice, then Jenrick-sceptic MP supporters of Tugendhat or Cleverly might, once their candidate is knocked out, decide to switch to Kemi in order to get her to the final two as the only way of avoiding a Jenrick leadership. This relies on the assumption that MPs assume that the order of preference for the members is Kemi-Jenrick-Cleverly/Tom Tug, and that it will remain such up until the last round.
On the Tory leadership - it's all gone a bit quiet of late. This article, which doesn't appear to be paywalled, seems a reasonably good summary of where we're up to:
I've eventually resigned myself to a Jenrick victory, only to spot a route to victory for Kemi: if Kemi really is, and remains, the members' choice, then Jenrick-sceptic MP supporters of Tugendhat or Cleverly might, once their candidate is knocked out, decide to switch to Kemi in order to get her to the final two as the only way of avoiding a Jenrick leadership. This relies on the assumption that MPs assume that the order of preference for the members is Kemi-Jenrick-Cleverly/Tom Tug, and that it will remain such up until the last round.
One theory I’ve heard from a reliable source is that Jenrick/Cleverly will back Jenrick in the hopes of getting top jobs and that Jenrick might be ousted like IDS allowing Cleverly or Tom T to take over.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
There doesn’t seem to be anything in the act that suggests MPs are exempt?
I hate the terms bribery and the racist word blackmail.
I prefer the term incentive based decision making.
So she supports a man who tried to inflame tensions during the riots and whose turned twitter into even more of a cesspit .
She supports a succesful African-American entrepreneur who has created businesses and jobs in the US and overseas and may well get a person onto Mars.
And, hopefully, bring them back again. That's too often forgotten in the hyping of his dreams.
Kennedy said: "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth". Without that last clause, NASA would have had a much easier job...
Mars to Stay is a thing. Aldrin backed it - though I'm not sure I'd want to risk the people back home getting bored and just giving up on me.
You'd want a plan to quickly get as close to self-sufficiency as possible, and then ideally something relatively light that was valuable enough to send back in trade. Perhaps Martian gemstones?
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
There doesn’t seem to be anything in the act that suggests MPs are exempt?
I hate the terms bribery and the racist word blackmail.
I prefer the term incentive based decision making.
And that is far more accurate because the incentive may not be something now, it may be something (a part-time job say) when the time is more appropriate (say post election).
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
That was my second understanding, the first being that this property was effectively well equipped and located offices for the campaign. Then I understood that he had moved out so the media would leave his family alone. Then there was a confusing bit when it seemed to be suggested that his son had moved out to get peace. Then maybe both of them. And now back to plan B.
Well, that's clear anyway.
As always it’s the cover up
The inability to have a clear and simple story to explain everything is noticeable
Makes you think that someone is not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
Yes, it's one of the least problematic things to have come out. Take out the MP (who doesn't seem to be someone of influence in the party) and it's a complete non-story. The MP would have been wise not to get involved - i.e. channel the money through someone else if it could not be given directly to her sister - but it's not that big a deal.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Actually, no, it is a big deal
“You know I lent you £1.2m? Well I really want you to vote X next week.”
MPs simply should not be entering into agreements with the potential to compromise them. The sheer magnitude of the loan puts it firmly in that category.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
On the Tory leadership - it's all gone a bit quiet of late. This article, which doesn't appear to be paywalled, seems a reasonably good summary of where we're up to:
I've eventually resigned myself to a Jenrick victory, only to spot a route to victory for Kemi: if Kemi really is, and remains, the members' choice, then Jenrick-sceptic MP supporters of Tugendhat or Cleverly might, once their candidate is knocked out, decide to switch to Kemi in order to get her to the final two as the only way of avoiding a Jenrick leadership. This relies on the assumption that MPs assume that the order of preference for the members is Kemi-Jenrick-Cleverly/Tom Tug, and that it will remain such up until the last round.
One theory I’ve heard from a reliable source is that Jenrick/Cleverly will back Jenrick in the hopes of getting top jobs and that Jenrick might be ousted like IDS allowing Cleverly or Tom T to take over.
Hm - but the second half of that would require another MPs stitch-up. You can see the party going for that in government a la Rishi, and after a few years in the wilderness a la Michael Howard - but it seems to me unlikely that MPs would be that ready for internal agreement, or the party that aquiescent right now.
I should add - while my Kemi scenario is plausible, I don't think it as likely as Jenrick winning from the front.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
Congrats on your retirement. Make sure you keep active and see the world. Enjoy yourself.
Thank you, we certainly plan to.
I also plan to do some volunteer work as well, I am great at home brew so I will also learn how to make chutnies and relishes.
I do not want to sit and vegetate at home.
For a serious reponse, I've also been reflecting on this. I'll always have a part time job running the small property portfolio which is most of my pension, but in my area there is a famine of people who have the skills, and broader experience around management etc, to be things like trustees and committee members of small projects / charities - whether it is a youth club, a football team, home help service, or a local adult education setup. This is historical as we are a mining area, and the Directors and Onwers and Professionals tended to live a few miles away. It's a real hobble for small organisations wanting to be more effective.
As I see it I need something for activity and social networks, and also something long term - say 5-10 years - to keep me thinking ahead. My activism will continue to be around walking and cycling access, especially for disabled, and I could find enough to do just in Notts for a full time team of dozens. Plus for the next 10 years at least we can expect support not hostility from Governement for active travel, so there is lots of political activity.
On the personal fulfilment side, I'm also considering things like looking at becoming a volunteer hospital chaplain or working with Samaritans - which are not often considered.
Someone I know who is 61 or 61 has broadened out from being a professional counsellor into being trained - with hubby - to be Spiritual Directors, and now have a dog brought in because the children have left and to keep them active, which is now trained as a therapy dog.
Lots of ideas out there. I'll only do maybe 10% or 20% of the stuff I think about, but we'll see.
3 in a day. It can't be the money, apparently median dev salary is $1m a year.
They are on far more than $1m a year...
Beyond that it's hard to say what's going on with OpenAi and those people will have knowledge about the situation that no one else has..
If I was on millions a year, within a year I'd have millions of pounds. So would retire.
Which I suppose is why I'm not on millions a year.
They do exist. Friend knows a guy who made partner in Deloitte aged 34 and then retired at 42, no kids, and he now basically plays squash all day.
The bastard.
Is this a good time to mention that I could retire today but have provisionally set my retirement when I hit 50 in 2028?
I am unlikely to retire then though, more like when I hit 55 to 60.
These days there's a lot of "retiring" of men in their 50s from a first career, in order to start a second career. And women in their 40s. You need to work out what your second career will be. Even 60 is too early to stop work completely.
I am planning to retire in December at the age of 59.
I should be okay and I do plan to work again although a couple of days stacking shelves in Sainsburys would suit me. No pressure. Turn up. Stack shelves. Go home. Pocket around £800 a month and top up with pension.
Certainly pressurised demanding roles become less and less appealing as you get older I have found.
You'll be bored out of your mind.
I think the ideal is to find a way to lose the crap bits of the job and keep the fun bits. My friend and neighbour did that in the NHS. He retired from head of department and came back as a locum only doing clinics. No more pointless and tedious meetings, minimal paperwork, some intellectual stimulation. Perfect.
Bored out of his mind? I retired at 62 from a very demanding job and have never looked back. The only times I'm bored are when brushing my teeth and, I suppose, reading x, y and z's posts on this otherwise fabulous site - though the latter is optional, of course.
Truthfully: although retired, I wish there were more hours in the day. It's such fun not having the chains of paid work.
You are obviously a much more interesting person than I am. I am 63 this week and really wouldn't know what to do with myself without having work that felt purposeful and useful. I intend to keep this up as long as my health allows.
I am a long way off retirement yet but if I can help it I would be very pleased to get out of a demanding job early. I think it very much depends on what you’re expecting your standard of living to be. I would love to be able to dedicate time to voluntary and community pursuits - I don’t get enough time to do that at the moment, but it would feel like a good way to keep busy, give something back and make some more friends.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
It's an interest free £1.2M loan on property. The loan will be paid back on gaining probate and sale of property (that the MP has also been living in). What about the value of the property, has that changed, who will benefit? Assuming this Labour MP is the beneficiary of the estate of her sister, she has saved a lot of money that her sister would normally have had to have paid, that has instead been paid of the loan.
Understand that it is a friend helping out, but surely the Labour MP has potentially gained massively from this, in numerous ways.
You’re assuming a lot.
If Lord Alli is a friend of the dying sister, why did the loan and purchase of the property (at unknown value) go to the MP? What tax reasons would it be beneficial to do this way, instead of to someone who is seriously ill? The MP now has the property, that was bought for the sister, but not by the sister, who will benefit most financially from all of this? Can you tell me that the MP will not saving significantly from this arrangement.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
But it is a politician - and indeed, a politician gifting a substantial amount to another politician's relative.
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
The problem that Labour has is that an MP should not be receiving hospitality in ways that employees are barred from following the Bribery Act 2010 (which MPs seem to be exempt from).
There doesn’t seem to be anything in the act that suggests MPs are exempt?
I hate the terms bribery and the racist word blackmail.
I prefer the term incentive based decision making.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
It's an interest free £1.2M loan on property. The loan will be paid back on gaining probate and sale of property (that the MP has also been living in). What about the value of the property, has that changed, who will benefit? Assuming this Labour MP is the beneficiary of the estate of her sister, she has saved a lot of money that her sister would normally have had to have paid, that has instead been paid of the loan.
Understand that it is a friend helping out, but surely the Labour MP has potentially gained massively from this, in numerous ways.
You’re assuming a lot.
If Lord Alli is a friend of the dying sister, why did the loan and purchase of the property (at unknown value) go to the MP? What tax reasons would it be beneficial to do this way, instead of to someone who is seriously ill? The MP now has the property, that was bought for the sister, but not by the sister, who will benefit most financially from all of this? Can you tell me that the MP will not saving significantly from this arrangement
How do you know the MP now has the property? That's easy to establish - what do the records say, which are public?
That the property is being sold as part of probate suggests that the MP does *not* have the property.
As @TSE remarked above, there are a lot of prejudicial assumptions involved to make anything of this.
Even the Telegrunt piece of which I linked the full version states that this is just piling other material onto a 'row': There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the peer, but the row over “freebies” given to top Labour politicians overshadowed much of the party’s annual conference in Liverpool, which ended on Wednesday.
Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
That's a repeat of a story from last week - were a politican not involved would it be news - it's just a rich person helping their friend out.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
It's an interest free £1.2M loan on property. The loan will be paid back on gaining probate and sale of property (that the MP has also been living in). What about the value of the property, has that changed, who will benefit? Assuming this Labour MP is the beneficiary of the estate of her sister, she has saved a lot of money that her sister would normally have had to have paid, that has instead been paid of the loan.
Understand that it is a friend helping out, but surely the Labour MP has potentially gained massively from this, in numerous ways.
You’re assuming a lot.
If Lord Alli is a friend of the dying sister, why did the loan and purchase of the property (at unknown value) go to the MP? What tax reasons would it be beneficial to do this way, instead of to someone who is seriously ill? The MP now has the property, that was bought for the sister, but not by the sister, who will benefit most financially from all of this? Can you tell me that the MP will not saving significantly from this arrangement.
Comments
I thought that was what I would do forever but my latest consultancy has spun out into me creating a brand new investment business for my client and it’s really become my baby and so will run it for the foreseeable future as it’s made me feel totally energised.
Reckon for the first month I will just get used to it then get board.
So I plan to clear out the loft and I have so much tat to sell. Old DVD’s, Dr Who books, Magazines and the like that will go for cash.
Also plan to wash and Vinted my Dad’s old branded sports tops as well as some of my clothes.
Volunteering is part of my plan to keep occupied as well as a short 2 day a week job.
Maybe in 9 months I get bored and I seek a lower waged interim role. I don’t know.
What I do know is I no longer enjoy this, have enough put aside and in pensions to retire and live the life I enjoy, and I no longer want to do this. I am tired of the constant demands for info and the priorities chopping and changing every 4 months or so.
I just feel I have worked since the 6th Sept 1982 pretty much non stop and need a break.
The important thing is to be able to create some time structure, and activities that get you out and among other people.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-26/trump-plans-meetings-with-uk-s-starmer-and-leader-of-the-uae
It doesn't sound quite like retirement anyway, if you're still working part time (which is a good idea).
Regarding the volunteering, have a look at this.
https://ivnetwork.org.uk/become-an-iv/
Not for everyone, but an incredibly valuable service, and not a huge time commitment (though you have to be committed to it).
I'm nto sure about Gordon Brown in detail, but then we are back into the 1970s and Ted Heath etc.
Now in our 80's and me physically somewhat disabled we've cut right back on the travelling and down on the activities, but we still keep going.
I had a very pleasant afternoon at the u3a's Wine Appreciation yesterday, for example!
I have a couple of retired friends who have since retirement become magistrates.
Siobhain McDonagh says peer was ‘best friends’ with terminally ill sibling Margaret, Labour’s first female general secretary
A Labour MP accepted a £1.2 million loan from Lord Alli to buy a house.
Siobhain McDonagh, the MP for Mitcham and Morden, said the Labour peer helped her buy the house for her terminally ill sister Baroness McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, who was the donor’s “best friend” for 25 years.
Described as a “tour de force” for the party, the peer was credited with helping Labour achieve its landslide election victory in 1997.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering from a series of fits in November 2021 and died last year.
Ms McDonagh said that Lord Alli wanted “nothing other” than for her sister to be comfortable in the last months of her life….
… She added: “The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/09/26/labour-mp-lord-alli-loan-buy-flat-sister-siobhain-mcdonagh/
Netanyahu tells Israel's military to keep fighting with 'full force' in Lebanon after ceasefire calls
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c981g8mrl8lt
Hope Rishi and the four Tory leader candidates also remember back to those days.
Alex Wickham@alexwickham
Keir Starmer’s top No10 business adviser Varun Chandra retains multi-million pound stakes in his former company, whose clients aren’t public
He’s agreed to sell a stake in Hakluyt, valued at £7.2m in 2023, back to the firm at a set price over an undisclosed period of time
But he still has a stake in its investment arm, Hakluyt Capital, where finding a buyer quickly is proving difficult
Hakluyt says it represents many of the biggest companies and private equity firms in the world. Its client list is secret
Chandra, a senior No10 Spad who is the gatekeeper between the PM and business, will know who they are. He will inevitably deal with Hakluyt client interests in his No10 job
The arrangement had to be signed off by Sue Gray, according to the Spad code of conduct
Alex Wickham@alexwickham
·
12m
Last year Bloomberg revealed Labour was working with Hakluyt to help its business engagement. So Hakluyt had an opportunity to introduce its clients and push its clients’ interests to Starmer. Then Starmer made Hakluyt’s boss a senior Spad in No10. And he retains a stake…
Alex Wickham@alexwickham
·
10m
You guessed it… Sue Gray’s supposed choice (Olly Robbins) to replace Simon Case as cabinet secretary currently runs European operations at… Hakluyt
The next issue (or 20) of Private Eye is going to be well worth reading!
The wines from fruit I am leaving a year anyway but the wine from cartons of fruit juice, the beers from kits as well as the beer from root ginger I drink immediately.
So she supports a man who tried to inflame tensions during the riots and whose turned twitter into even more of a cesspit .
Same as the old boss.
Heck the only bit of news is that the rich person actually helped them out.
The Premier League spent more than £45m on legal costs over the 2023-24 football season in an effort to fight alleged rule breakers.
The body that runs England’s top flight is currently in ongoing disputes having also concluded proceedings on a number of matters across last season.
Everton were hit with two separate points deductions for breaches of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) relating to losses made versus money spent. Fellow club Nottingham Forest were also punished for breaching the same rules.
Promoted Leicester City survived a Premier League investigation earlier this season, potentially denting hopes of future PSR cases.
https://www.cityam.com/premier-league-spent-over-45m-on-legal-costs-in-2023-24-season/
In other words - what next ?
https://x.com/peterstefanovi2/status/1838993364500504738
”If you’re putting to me Beth that I should have stayed at my home & disrupted my son’s GCSEs & that was the right thing to do, then I think you should put that to me”
Well, that's clear anyway.
There's far more to question over gifts to the leader and cabinet ministers, where there is at least the potential for influence (or the perception of that).
Now, on the one hand, this is all being made public, and as such the public can judge the appropriateness of what's gone on - which is as it should be. However, Lord Alli does look to have financial dealings with a lot of senior Labour figures, which is getting to the point (if not already beyond it), where it looks as if he's been seeking to buy a network and exercise influence without ever needing to make explicit his patronage (and, implicitly, the potential future loss of it). Even if it's all innocent and he is simply helping out friends and colleagues, the impression of buying influence - bolstered by the reality of the No 10 pass - is unmistakable.
I think calls to ban all gifts and donations, including in kind, to politicians go much too far. We need MPs to be normal people and to be able to do the sorts of things normal people do. For example, if a friend offers to put up all invitees to his birthday bash for free, then the MP shouldn't be the only one to have to pay for themselves - but they should have to declare that hospitality and opt out of decisions that might be influenced by the freebie. Indeed, the pressing need for reform is to deal with conflicts of interest more effectively, including banning MPs and peers from voting or taking decisions where the interest is close enough (as councillors are so banned).
I have the first DWW's with transfers.
I also have the Big Finish Novellas.
Just looked at EBAY. The ones I mentioned always went for good money. But it looks like the money on offer for the range as a whole is just silly.
Harris 52
Trump 44
Compared to July before Biden withdrew .
Trump 45
Harris 43
It's notable that the MP Register of Interests is made horrible to examine by it consisting of fortnightly PDF files, rather than a single database.
https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/parliamentary-commissioner-for-standards/registers-of-interests/register-of-members-financial-interests/
The Lords one is MUCH better.
The Lords one is more opaque on financial disclosures, though even the Commons one is heavily obfuscated.
Because Starmer is a lawyer they knew this would be a government of integrity.
https://goodlawproject.org/good-law-practice-to-close
Interesting point though, if acting on sister's affairs as PoA, does it have to be declared, if a then a gift to the sister, rather than the MP? I can see a moral argument for yes, certainly, but not sure of the legality (I hold PoA, legal and medical, for my parents, but have not had to use it yet - although the medical PoA has been helpful getting doctors I phone up to talk to me).
Understand that it is a friend helping out, but surely the Labour MP has potentially gained massively from this, in numerous ways.
https://archive.ph/9OpvG#selection-2733.0-2733.18
All accounted for during probate, of course.
The most difficult point was a series of banks that withheld access to a series of savings accounts totalling 6 figures until after probate had been granted. Others did not withhold access. That went towards paying IHT, but was a total pain.
https://x.com/GuidoFawkes/status/1839233963295985882?t=JW4Qsizeuljqo7lBCOY02A&s=19
Kennedy said: "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth". Without that last clause, NASA would have had a much easier job...
The studio crew and equipment would have been paid by the Lib Dems. We had two lunches in L'Escargot where the bill would have been picked up by the Party or us as the production company as an act of goodwill. I can't be certain but the one thing I can be certain of is that not a penny would have been paid by Paddy Ashdown nor would you expect it to have been!
Weren't they continuing in a slightly refined guise ?
I suggested the other day that Mr Starmer needs to triangulate this into an investigation into expenses over the last period, and proposals for improvements to the system. If it goes back to 2019 that brings all the dumped-into-history Conservatives into the frame.
That will take some time and leaves the same sword of Damocles hanging over the Opposition eg potentially Jenrick and BoJo, without putting only Mr Starmer's own neck in the noose.
There's no reason why it can't be Judge lead, but it would need a defined timescale - perhaps 1 year, with legislation to be brought forward pronto.
I prefer the term incentive based decision making.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/whos-on-top-in-the-tory-leadership-contest/
I've eventually resigned myself to a Jenrick victory, only to spot a route to victory for Kemi: if Kemi really is, and remains, the members' choice, then Jenrick-sceptic MP supporters of Tugendhat or Cleverly might, once their candidate is knocked out, decide to switch to Kemi in order to get her to the final two as the only way of avoiding a Jenrick leadership.
This relies on the assumption that MPs assume that the order of preference for the members is Kemi-Jenrick-Cleverly/Tom Tug, and that it will remain such up until the last round.
I respect you very much for this forum, but many seem to like my contributions but unfortunately they seem to needle you
I share your admiration for David Cameron and have fought for the conservative party for decades though not recently
Would you prefer I didn't post ?
Guido has produced nothing burgers for years, there’s a reason OGH used to joke about sending posters to ConHome or Guido.
Who can forget his expose that Starmer liked to shag around as a young man.
As always it’s the cover up
The inability to have a clear and simple story to explain everything is noticeable
Makes you think that someone is not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth
“You know I lent you £1.2m? Well I really want you to vote X next week.”
MPs simply should not be entering into agreements with the potential to compromise them. The sheer magnitude of the loan puts it firmly in that category.
I would not post anything inappropriate as per your last sentence
Sauce for the goose and all that
So, we got 4 Pennsylvania polls today:
Monmouth: Harris 47/45 [sort of, it's not a direct H2H]
Susquehanna: tied 46/46
Mulhenberg: tied 48/48
RMG Research: tied 49/49
https://x.com/Taniel/status/1839017204370780532
The key swing state, and they're (possibly) trying to avoid making a call.
Or maybe it is that close, and they all have near identical methodologies....
I should add - while my Kemi scenario is plausible, I don't think it as likely as Jenrick winning from the front.
As I see it I need something for activity and social networks, and also something long term - say 5-10 years - to keep me thinking ahead. My activism will continue to be around walking and cycling access, especially for disabled, and I could find enough to do just in Notts for a full time team of dozens. Plus for the next 10 years at least we can expect support not hostility from Governement for active travel, so there is lots of political activity.
On the personal fulfilment side, I'm also considering things like looking at becoming a volunteer hospital chaplain or working with Samaritans - which are not often considered.
Someone I know who is 61 or 61 has broadened out from being a professional counsellor into being trained - with hubby - to be Spiritual Directors, and now have a dog brought in because the children have left and to keep them active, which is now trained as a therapy dog.
Lots of ideas out there. I'll only do maybe 10% or 20% of the stuff I think about, but we'll see.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/26/the-presidential-race-is-far-tighter-than-many-democrats-probably-realize
That the property is being sold as part of probate suggests that the MP does *not* have the property.
As @TSE remarked above, there are a lot of prejudicial assumptions involved to make anything of this.
Even the Telegrunt piece of which I linked the full version states that this is just piling other material onto a 'row':
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the peer, but the row over “freebies” given to top Labour politicians overshadowed much of the party’s annual conference in Liverpool, which ended on Wednesday.