UK General Election 2024: When a furious Labour voter thought the party was taxing ‘condoms’

Labour is likely to come back to power after 14 years in the political wilderness but that doesn’t mean they have their work cut out. They might have lost the last election under Jeremy Corbyn but his successor Keir Starmer – described by NYT as “earnest, “intense, practical and not brimming with charisma” – has largely steadied the ship. That however doesn’t mean that he has his work cut out.
The Albion might be the land of Shakespeare and Austen, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s linguistic skills are up-to-date. Take the case of a gentleman from Yorkshire East who proclaimed he wouldn’t vote for Labour because they were taxing “condoms”. Labour’s Karl Turner, who is standing for re-election from Hull East told The Guardian: “We met a guy who said he was going to vote Labour but wouldn’t now because he had just heard that we were taxing condoms.”
The voter told Turner: “I just heard on [pointing to the TV] that you are taxing condoms, and I’m not having it. You’re not getting my vote.”
Turner had to placate the voter by pointing out they were voting non-doms (non-domiciles), instead of condoms, like the “prime minister’s wife”. While one voter was swayed by the argument, London’s moneyed elite aren’t particularly thrilled.
Taxing the super-rich if it wins is one of Labour’s promises , especially for those who claim special tax treatment by claiming “non-domiciled or non-dom” status.
Labour has pledged to scrap this loophole that will raise an estimated £3.2bn a year. The party has promised to use the money to train more NHS staff and free breakfast for every primary school in England. This could however affect the UK’s finances with the monied moving their money elsewhere to places like Dubai. It will be reminiscent of the time when many rich Britishers would move to different places including Ireland to avoid paying heavy taxes. One anecdote claims that Frederick Forsyth returned to active writing because only writing authors were eligible for tax breaks.
Who is Keith Starmer?
Born on September 2, 1962, Keir Rodney Starmer was raised in a cramped, pebbledashed semi-detached house on the outskirts of London by a seriously ill mother and an emotionally distant father.
He had three siblings, one of whom had learning difficulties. His parents were animal lovers who rescued donkeys.
"Whenever one of us left home, they replaced us with a donkey," Starmer has joked.
A talented musician, Starmer had violin lessons at school with Norman Cook, the former Housemartins bassist who became DJ Fatboy Slim, and attended a prestigious London music school at weekends.
After legal studies at the universities of Leeds and Oxford, Starmer turned his attention to leftist causes, defending trade unions, anti-McDonald's activists and death row inmates abroad.
He is friends with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney from their time together at the same legal practice and once recounted a boozy lunch he had with her and her Hollywood actor husband George.
In 2003, he began moving towards the establishment, shocking colleagues and friends, first with a job ensuring police in Northern Ireland complied with human rights legislation.
Five years later, he was appointed director of public prosecutions for England and Wales when Labour's Gordon Brown was prime minister.
Between 2008 and 2013, he oversaw the prosecution of MPs for abusing their expenses, journalists for phone-hacking, and young rioters involved in unrest across England.
He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, but rarely uses the prefix "Sir", and in 2015 was elected as a member of parliament, representing a seat in left-leaning north London.
With inputs from agencies