Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to have a "serious discussion" with the Labour Party about how to navigate the latest donation scandal, as his close relationship with party peer and donor Lord Waheed Alli continues to spark questions.
In the latest development regarding Lord Alli's gifting to the British PM, fresh revelations have come to light about Starmer's use of Alli's multi-million pound penthouse.
As well as using the property for his son to study for his GCSE exams, the Prime Minister used the apartment to film a coronavirus message in December 2021, urging the public to "stay home" during the coronavirus pandemic.
The shelves behind Starmer were also dressed with family photos and Christmas cards, to make it appear as though he was in his own home.
The Prime Minister has received a number of donations from Lord Alli, including thousands of pounds worth of clothing
PA
Addressing the latest scandal to rumble Starmer's first few months in office, journalist Kevin Schofield warned on GB News that the "awkward' developments in Lord Alli's significant donations to the PM are "overshadowing" key events in the Labour calendar.
When asked by host Tom Harwood if the donations can be compared to the level of scandal Boris Johnson faced with the Partygate allegations, Schofield admitted that it is "not at that level yet", but claimed that the party are "hoping to draw a line under it" as soon as possible.
Schofield told GB News: "Labour would have hoped to have drawn a line under this maybe during the party conference season. They might have thought that was a reset moment and an opportunity to move on to other things, but that certainly hasn't happened.
"These stories just keep coming. Filming a message encouraging people to work from home that wasn't actually filmed in his own house - even though it was made to look like it was his house - fails to pass the smell test."
The Prime Minister broadcast a message from Lord Alli's penthouse in December 2021, urging Britons to stay at home during the pandemic
X / Labour Party
Noting Starmer's "failure to address it head on" and offering various reasons for accepting Lord Alli's donations, host Emily Carver claimed that the "optics do not look good" for the Prime Minister as the scandal continues to grow.
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Schofield agreed, explaining: "The story keeps changing all the time, and I think that's what makes it very awkward for the government. It makes the Prime Minister look a little bit shifty, like he can't stick to an agreed line, primarily because there's these different stories coming out all the time now.
"A Labour insider texted me after his comments yesterday on the GCSE studying for his son, saying every time he opens his mouth, it just makes it worse. There's a suggestion that maybe he's not listening to the advice that he's receiving from those around him."
Offering advice to how Labour can dissolve the ever-growing allegations surrounding donations from Alli, Schofield suggested that a "serious discussion" needs to take place between Starmer and his Government to try and resolve the situation.
Schofield told GB News: "He's trying to mould the message himself, but I think maybe someone needs to have a word and say, look, this is not going away. We need to have a serious discussion about how we deal with this and try to get back on the front foot.
Kevin Schofield says Keir Starmer appears 'shifty' as more allegations emerge about Lord Alli's donations
GB News
"It's just overshadowing everything right now. It largely overshadowed the Labour Party conference and now he has a big trip to the UN General Assembly in New York, and he's still having to field these questions rather than talk about the stuff that he wants to talk about."
Turning the discussion to Lord Alli, Emily questioned Schofield on what the Labour donor could "possibly want" in return for being so generous in his gifts to the Prime Minister.
Schofield responded: "He is already a peer, so it's kind of difficult to see what else he could get from the government. When he was given an access pass, that was a very strange one. And another one that really the Number Ten operation didn't really answer properly as to why he had this pass straight after the election.
"Those security passes are not just given out willy nilly, and should only be given to people who need to be in there on a regular basis. So that has never been properly answered either."