Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sumptuary Laws
Turning off yet another radio discussion about "Sir" Keir, his pals and free clothes, and other freebies. I kept trying to dredge my memory. Wasn't this an old old story?
Isn't there an old term for overspending and dressing-up in posh clothes? Clothing that denotes wealth and status?
A faint memory bell goes off. "Sumptuary"
There were even laws against it.
https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/mens-fashion
But there's lots more. And I confess that I don't rate Starmer and Reeves. The expenses scandal wasn'r that long ago. Surely they haven't forgotten the brilliant Heather Brooke?
"...Trying to look at the whole system in a holistic way. So I saw these little stories coming out... They would go after one person. It was a scandal and it would be brushed aside. ... just scratching the surface again...
The problem isn't the bad apple. It's the whole pie! It's rotten!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWH0ang_fBU
There was the John Lewis List. (I suggested that as a good name for an MP. Last two words hyphenated if course)
And it's not as though Haringey Council was immune to the freebie culture. Anybody remember the MIPIM trips to Cannes in the sunny Med? Free flights; free hotels; free lunch on the yacht Klara-1. Why did they go? When the Ally Pally boating lake was so near?
To talk in secret with property developers about selling off Council homes and other dubious Land-Tricks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon Farcas
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Indeed. Some things never change.
There is an old stereotype that politicians are often brought down by scandals, the nature of which is informed by what they were denied in their younger years. With Labour, it's money. With Conservatives, it's sex.
I'm not that bothered by people donating clothes to Rayner and Lammy. Left to their own devices they would no doubt embarass us on the international stage (Johnson was also a slob and Sunak's trousers were always too short, a problem highlighted by his stature enhancing heels).
Cameron was the last PM who could actually put himself together in a sartorial sense.
I do wish someone would donate Rayner a few elocution lessons though. Many politicians grew up in challenging circumstances but not many insist on talking like her. Ghastly.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton
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"I do wish someone would donate Rayner a few elocution lessons though. Many politicians grew up in challenging circumstances but not many insist on talking like her. Ghastly."
Oh Gordon, I do hope you wrote that completely tongue-in-cheek. And are pretending to be a regional accent snob. From your name I've imagined you speaking with a melodic enjoyable and confidence inspiring Scots accent. Aren't most people now glad the British Isles retains a rich variety of accents?
As for David Cameron, his sneer about Jeremy Corbyn not wearing a "proper suit" was prompted by a button undone. Corbyn was speaking about the NHS.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35651000
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And before this goes to another 'dress code malfunction' - Alan, you'll know this - Michael Foot's 'donkey jacket' at the Cenotaph in 1981 was a green tweed short coat bought from Harrods by his wife, the film director Jill Tweedie, who one expects would have a good eye. It can be seen at the People's History Museum in Manchester (newspaper article with image here).
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Permalink Reply by Martin (Woodside)
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Gordon, I think you meant Jill Craigie.
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"All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs".
Not that I have a picture of the man who quoted this on my wall, but it rings true in history as it will very quickly with Starmer's kakistocracy of buffoons and tokens.
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The Devil Wears Primark.
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