Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced the first resignation in his new UK government on Saturday when lawmaker Rosie Duffield left the Labour Party. Duffield accused Starmer of hypocrisy for accepting over £100,000 in gifts while cutting an annual £300 winter heating payment for about 10 million pensioners.
In a letter written addressing the UK PM, Duffield criticised Starmer in her resignation letter for implementing “cruel and unnecessary” policies according to her.”The sleaze, nepotism, and apparent avarice are off the scale,” she wrote. Duffield also highlighted the inconsistency of a leader enjoying expensive gifts while asking others to cut back. “I am so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she stated.
The Labour MP also criticised Starmer’s decision to maintain a cap on benefit payments aimed at supporting families with children. She argued that Starmer’s acceptance of luxurious gifts was inconsistent with Labour values. “This is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour Prime Minister,” she added.
As per the news agency AFP, Starmer’s acceptance of gifts has caused friction within the party, particularly at the first Labour Party conference since regaining power. Labour had won a landslide election in July after 14 years in opposition, but the mood at the conference was dampened by the ongoing controversy.
All gifts accepted by Starmer were declared and are within parliamentary rules. However, records show that he received more in gifts and hospitality than any other lawmaker since December 2019. It was also revealed that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves accepted valuable gifts and loans.
The Labour Party defended the decision to abolish the £300 payment to pensioners, citing a need to address a “£22 billion black hole” left by the previous Conservative government. Despite this defence, Starmer lost a symbolic vote at the party conference, which called for the reversal of this policy. Although non-binding, the vote’s outcome was a setback for Starmer and demonstrated strong opposition from party activists and union supporters.
Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham voiced her discontent: “I do not understand how our new Labour Government can cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched.”
Duffield plans to sit as an independent MP in the future, guided by her “core Labour values.”
Meanwhile, the ex-chairwoman of the Conservative Party, Baroness Warsi, also resigned from the House of Lords, alleging that the party has shifted to the “far right.”
The peer, who served as Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister under David Cameron’s premiership, criticised the party for its “hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities.” However, the Conservatives claim that she was on the verge of being investigated for allegedly using “divisive language.”