TV presenter Matthew Stadlen surprised his fellow GB News panellists today when he did not rush to the defence of Keir Starmer and his Labour government.
A freebies row has grabbed headlines in recent days with the Labour leader found to be the biggest recipient.
But speaking on GB News, Stadlen admitted Labour’s exploits are “tricky to defend”.
“People voted for change and they aren’t seeing it yet, that’s not surprising”, he said.
Matthew Stadlen admitted the freebies row is ‘tricky to defend’
PA / GB NEWS
“If you tell people in your rose garden speeches that things are going to get worse before they get better, that isn’t exactly a popular thing to say.
“But I find the freebies tricky to defend. If you’re coming into Number 10 saying you’re going to do things differently and you’re going to clean up politics and this will be a government of service and then it turns out, according to analysis by Sky News, you are the MP who has received by far the most in freebies over the last five years, that seems to be to be problematic.
“That is also in a stark contrast to a Labour prime minister who is means testing the Winter Fuel Allowance.
“Is part of this a rapacious appetite on part of elements of the right-wing press?”
Dawn Neesom then hit back to say The Guardian, a left-wing publication, has also been critical of the Labour Government in recent days, a point Stadlen acknowledged to be correct.
“That’s true”, he said.
The matter was discussed on GB News
GB NEWS
“Also the BBC broke the Sue Gray story, if that is indeed a story. But of course there are elements of the right-wing press desperate to tear down this Labour Government.
“But it is in all of our interests that this Government succeeds. Of course it needs to be scrutinised, but our country is facing a series of major crises.”
Labour’s top brass are keen to draw a line on the freebie controversy including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who said she understood people’s “frustration” and “anger”.
Starmer, along with other top Labour figures, were found to have received thousands of pounds in gifts.
But Rayner added these had been “a feature of our politics for a very long time”, arguing that donations were necessary because of the expense of running for office, and stressing the importance of transparency.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Prime Minister hit out at reports suggesting strife in Downing Street focused on Sue Gray, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff.
Leaks about Gray’s £170,000 salary while other special advisers have seen their pay held down have contributed to reports of a fractious atmosphere within Number 10 less than three months after coming to power.
But Ms Rayner rejected what she described as a “caricature”, saying the Government was “really focused on making sure we deliver” and that Ms Gray was doing an “exceptional job”.
She added: “It angers me, as someone who has been a trade union rep in the past and who wants to bring workers’ rights, that somehow it’s OK to demonise workers in their workplace through the press and the media.”