Starmer mocked for attempt to 'show solidarity' with mortgage holders

That’s rich! Starmer is mocked for a pathetic attempt to ‘show solidarity’ with mortgage holders after implying he shares pain of soaring interest rates

  • Sir Keir Starmer said that his own mortgage was becoming more expensive
  • It sparked ridicule given his own earnings, pension pots and value of his home

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of a pathetic attempt to ‘show solidarity’ with hard-pressed mortgage holders after implying he shares the pain of soaring interest rates.

The Labour leader is facing claims of trying to fool the public after saying that his own mortgage was becoming more expensive.

At an event for the Left-leaning New Statesman last week, Sir Keir declared: ‘We have a mortgage and ours has just gone up.’

But the remark – and his jibe that Rishi Sunak ‘doesn’t get’ ordinary people’s concerns – sparked ridicule given his own earnings, pension pots and value of his home.

As well as being paid around £150,000 a year by taxpayers for his roles of MP and Opposition Leader, Starmer earned £1 million plus a £700,000 gold-plated pension during his five years as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). 

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of a pathetic attempt to ‘show solidarity’ with hard-pressed mortgage holders after implying he shares the pain of soaring interest rates

But the remark – and his jibe that Rishi Sunak ‘doesn’t get’ ordinary people’s concerns – sparked ridicule given his own earnings, pension pots and value of his home

He also owns a North London house that he bought in 2004 for £650,000 – now estimated to be worth £2 million.

Tory MPs said last night that it was absurd for ‘rich man’ Sir Keir to complain about his payments.

Tory MP Alexander Stafford told The Mail on Sunday: ‘If Sir Keir Starmer isn’t a millionaire, he’s not far off it.

READ MORE: Man of the people? Labour leader Sir Keir owns seven acres of land in Surrey worth up to £10m 

‘It is absurd for him to wear his mortgage on his very nice North London home as some sort of badge of solidarity with people who really are battling to make ends meet. Yes, he has spoken movingly of his early life and how his family really did struggle. But since then, Sir Keir has done very well for himself.

‘Nothing wrong with that but he’s not some broke barrister – he’s now a minted knight, he should stop pretending to be working class and hard-up. It just doesn’t wash.’

Even some Labour MPs mocked him. One Northern MP said: ‘By most standards Keir is loaded. Yes, compared to Rishi Sunak, he’s a church mouse.

‘But by any normal measure, it’s very hard to see how someone with his money can really empathise with poor people in his own North London constituency – let alone in mine.’

Sir Keir was a barrister for 20 years. Then, as DPP, he was paid £195,000 a year and the job secured him a pension that, together with his MP’s retirement allowance, will give him a publicly funded pot worth about £1 million.

Last night, Labour sources said that when Sir Keir had previously spoken about his own mortgage he had stressed that ‘what I’m paying is not important against people sitting around trying to make very difficult decisions’.

A spokesman for Sir Keir said: ‘Keir saw his parents struggle to pay bills and forced to make tough choices. He gets the unfairness of working hard but not getting on. As Prime Minister, he’ll make sure everyone can.’

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