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[text/observer network lai jiaqi] british prime minister starmer, who was embroiled in a scandal of illegally accepting gifts, suffered a blow from within the party.

on september 28, local time, british labor mp rosie duffield announced her resignation from the labor party because starmer’s “obvious greed” had tarnished “the party we were once proud of.” the british broadcasting corporation (bbc) reported on september 29 that in his first interview after his resignation, duffield criticized starmer’s team for being “more concerned about greed and power than making a difference.”

"how dare you throw our long-desired victory, the sacred and precious trust of the electorate, back in the face of every dedicated and hard-working labor mp and electorate?! dirty, nepotistic, obvious greed is beyond normal "i am ashamed of you and your inner circle for what you and your inner circle have done which tarnished and disgraced the party we were once so proud of." in a fiery resignation letter, duffield blasted starmer's side. the "hypocrisy" of accepting tens of thousands of pounds in political gifts while demanding a cap on family benefits and asking others to tighten their belts is shocking and outrageous.

british labor mp rosie duffield (the independent)

according to afp, relevant records show that since december 2019, starmer has accepted more than 100,000 pounds in gifts, more than any other mp.

in september this year, the british media revealed that starmer had accepted a number of high-end clothing items worth more than 16,000 pounds from lord ali, a well-known donor to the labor party and british entrepreneur, for starmer and his wife victoria. later, media broke the news that ali also provided starmer with accommodation worth 20,000 pounds. starmer argued this was so his son could study for his gcse exams without media interference. under british law, mps must declare gifts or donations within 28 days. victoria received a gift of clothes from ali in may this year, but starmer did not declare this until last week.

starmer's team have tried to play down the incident and quell criticism that he accepted the gift. a labor spokesman previously responded that all donations were declared in accordance with parliamentary and electoral commission regulations. however, as public opinion intensified, downing street stated on september 20 that starmer would no longer accept such gifts.

the bbc said that just two months ago, the british government announced that the annual winter heating bill of 300 pounds provided to pensioners would now only be provided to some low-income people receiving benefits. people strongly protested.

duffield also criticized starmer's decision to maintain the previous conservative government's "two-child cap" welfare policy. in her resignation letter, she accused "a person of well above average wealth" who chose to retain the conservative party's "two-child cap" welfare policy. the "child cap" welfare policy has pushed british children into poverty, but they have accepted expensive personal gifts that are beyond the affordability of most people. "this is completely unworthy of the title of labor prime minister."

there were mixed views within the labor party on duffield's resignation. labor mp nadia whittom was "deeply disappointed" that duffield had voluntarily resigned because "she should have lost her whip long ago". another labor mp, simon opher, said he was "very sorry" that the labor party had lost her.

british prime minister starmer and his wife reuters

duffield, who was first elected to parliament in 2017, has long had a tense relationship with starmer. in her resignation letter, duffield pointed out that she had not supported starmer in the previous vote to lead the labor party. she did not explain the reason, but criticized starmer himself for being "immediately promoted to the shadow cabinet without following the normal path of honing his political skills" and that the people he promoted were people with "unproven political abilities" but who were close to him. people.

the bbc pointed out that duffield did not mention the details of her resignation at the beginning of the letter. on the contrary, in her letter, she deliberately and openly criticized starmer himself and his leadership, policies and actions. duffield's resignation letter has given starmer's critics ammunition as her team attempts to quell criticism over accepting the gift, and the manner in which she leaves will have repercussions for a time.

mp tom tugendhat, who is preparing to run for the leadership of the uk conservative party, cited duffield's criticism and said that the labor and starmer governments were not serving the british people but "serving themselves". asked whether she would welcome duffield to the conservative party, tugendhat said it was duffield's own decision to make, "but i strongly doubt she would."

duffield said the labor party was still "in my heart and my soul" and that she had decided to "be guided by core labor values" in running for parliament as an independent in the future.

this article is an exclusive manuscript of observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.