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Ethics adviser rebukes Starmer for role in cronyism scandal

On 8 November, we reported that Lisa Nandy was the latest Labour MP to embroil themselves in a cronyism scandal. Since then, Keir Starmer has admitted he was also involved in the affair, with his ethics adviser rebuking him in response.

Will this ‘rebuke’ have actual consequences?

Of course not; it’s just another way for our political elites to give the impression of accountability without taking responsibility.

The hospitality trough

As we reported on 8 November:

Lisa Nandy did not declare that she had accepted donations from the man she picked to chair her government’s new football watchdog. This is a fact, and not something anyone is denying.

If you believe Nandy, she didn’t know David Kogan had donated to her, and the situation is just another cock up in a long line of cock ups for Starmer’s government.

If you don’t believe Nandy, it’s another cronyism scandal in a long line of cronyism scandals.

The £2,900 donation Nandy received came from a man who had made other donations to Labour. Now, it turns out Starmer was one of these beneficiaries, and he also had some involvement in the decision to hire Kogan:


In Starmer’s letter to the ethics advisor Laurie Magnus, he notes he had recused himself from “decisions relating to the Football Governance Bill” because he “received hospitality from football clubs and the Football Association on a number of occasions”. This sums up why politicians shouldn’t be accepting hospitality from anyone. You can’t have a functioning political system when there are these ever-present questions of propriety.

Despite his recusal, Starmer confirmed to Nandy that he was “supportive” of the decision to hire Kogan in response to a note asking whether he was “content”. Given that Starmer is Nandy’s boss, it seems like the culture secretary needed the PM’s approval – approval he shouldn’t have given because he can’t keep his snout out of the hospitality trough.

Starmer admits that he and Magnus had agreed he should not be involved in the hiring process, which means he should have been fully aware of the ethical violation when he made it. Rather than taking accountability for his own actions, however, Starmer said:

I have asked my officials to carry out an internal review of the processes by which recusals are managed in No10.

We can save you some time here; the problem is that you un-recused yourself despite knowing full well that doing so violated your own ethical code – review closed.

Rebuked

In response to Starmer’s confession, Magnus rebuked him, as reported by the BBC:

Sir Keir Starmer has been rebuffed by his own ethics adviser over his role in appointing Labour donor David Kogan as England’s new football watchdog.

Sir Laurie Magnus told the prime minister it was “regrettable” he had signed off the appointment earlier this year, given Mr Kogan had donated to his 2020 campaign for the Labour leadership.

Stern stuff.

In all seriousness, how is this anything other than these same four steps over and over again?


As you’d imagine, the Conservatives are absolutely scandalised by all this (much like we were scandalised by the similar Tory scandals which took place between 2010 and 2024):

Andrew Feinstein also commented on the affair:

Omniscandals

As we’ve reported, this is far from the only ongoing Labour scandal:

For more on how we ended up with such a scandalous government, we recommend The Fraud by Paul Holden.

Featured image via Rwendland (Wikimedia)

By Willem Moore

This post was originally published on Canary.