UK's Labour conference overshadowed by clothes scandal, battered economy

London, Sep 23 As the United Kingdom's Labour Party gathers in Liverpool for its annual conference less than three months after a landslide victory in the general election, few feel the joy they seemingly deserve.

The Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is currently struggling with an image problem.

Multiple media reports emerged that Starmer accepted clothing for himself and his wife, as well as expensive spectacles together valued at tens of thousands of pounds. He also reportedly received high-end donations such as free tickets to Taylor Swift concerts and access to a corporate box at Arsenal Football Club.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner have also accepted similar gifts, according to local media reports.

"I get that people are angry," said Rayner. "But donations for gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time," she told the BBC. "People can look it up and see what people have had donations for, and the transparency is really important."

Starmer also insisted he followed the rules, but later, he, along with Reeves and Rayner, announced that they would no longer accept donations for clothing, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Labour Party won the July 4 election on pledges to "restore politics as a force for good" following years of the Conservative's rule tarnished by scandals, but a new YouGov poll found that one in seven Labour voters now regret their choice. Nearly two-thirds of all voters say Starmer's decision to accept freebies for his wife was unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the government is struggling to fix a 22-billion-pound (29-billion-U.S dollar) "black hole" in the public finances left by the Conservative government, and warning that "things will get worse" before they get better. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the government's outstanding debt reached 100 percent of gross domestic product in August, the highest level since 1961.

One of the government's first major policies was to cut a payment intended to help heat millions of pensioners' homes in winter, sparking fury among retirees. Delegates at the Labour Party conference were expected to vote on a motion from trade unions opposing the cut.

Starmer is also facing a backlash over the salary of his chief of staff, Sue Gray. The BBC reported she is paid 170,000 pounds a year -- about 3,000 pounds more than the prime minister's salary.

According to the schedule of the conference, which runs until Wednesday, chancellor Reeves will deliver a speech on economic policies later on Monday, followed by Starmer's address on Tuesday.

Reeves is expected to vow in her speech that there will be "no return" to austerity and that her first budget, due on Oct. 30, will "rebuild Britain" and deliver the change people voted for at the election, according to local reports.

Source: IANS