The announcement that Labour Prime Minister Keir Stermer will now pay £6,000 towards the cost of some of the freebies gifted to him since becoming prime minster, begs the question whether Thanet MP Polly Billington will follow her boss’s lead and pay for the £500 pair of Pet Shop Boys concert tickets gifted to her by Warner Music Inc.
Like her boss, Billington seized these luxurious Albert Hall freebies with avaracious glee whilst refusing to vote to end the poverty causing two child benefit cap and by voting to abolish the winter fuel payment for thousands of Thanet’s needy and vulnerable pensioners, some of whom will die prematurely as a consequence.
To live a life of Riley on an MPs salary and perks whilst many of those you supposedly represent in Parliament live lives of daily struggle is both unacceptable and deeply immoral.
The growing tide of public anger caused by MP’s openly
displaying their selfish greed, coupled with the vomit inducing excuses they deploy to defend their indefensible freebie lifestyle seriously undermines and weakens trust in our democratic system and, if unchecked, opens the doors to power for Farage and the extreme right.
The Labour Party stood in the general election on a platform of “change”. One of the changes we need right now is for the Labour Government to introduce legislation which bans Ministers, MPs, directly elected executive Mayors and local authority councilors from receiving any gifts at all, and which also puts an end to the receipt by our elected politicians of all but the most essential hospitality.
I have written to my Thanet MP Polly Billington about this and will publish her reply. I suggest you do likewise
Dear Ms Billington MP.
I am one of your constituents and have read in the media that Keir Starmer has announced that he will now pay back £6,000 of for some of the gifts and hospitality he has received since becoming Prime Minister. I welcome this decision.
I would be grateful if you could tell whether you will be following his lead and paying back the donor of the £500 pair of concert tickets you were gifted in your capacity as MP.
I would also like to know if, in view of the growing public anger concerning MPs and Ministers gifts and hospitality, that you will now reject all future offers of such, and whether you will call for and support legislation for a total ban on all gifts and non-essential hospitality for all MPs and Ministers and all directly elected executive Mayors and local authority councillors too.
I am sure you will agree that the practice of providing gifts and hospitality to those holding elected office is one which serves to seriously undermine and damage our democratic system, and that this practice must be ended,
I look forward to hearing from you
Ian Driver