Rebrand hasn't quite started...

Byline: GEORGE ADAM

You may think that a restart or a rebrand is the process of turning over a new leaf, starting again on a fresh new page and forgetting what has gone before.

Well, that is what I thought, too, until the last few weeks.

You too may have been interested in the rethink by those in control at Westminster.

In an effort to make people forget or distract them from attacks on the elderly, the disabled and young people over their first year in government, Westminster announced the restart.

A good idea after a disastrous year where ratings have plummeted to record lows after one year in charge after such desperate actions.

Straight after this announcement, we have the news that the Deputy Prime Minister and housing minister in London is being investigated for avoiding paying tax on a second home, specifically stamp duty.

This is not a good look; the person in charge of housing potentially avoiding a tax on her own housing.

Let's give this incident the benefit of the doubt. Tax is complex, buying a house can be stressful and people make mistakes.

They do, and not necessarily on purpose.

It is tricky, though, when you are the person responsible for housing. Anyway, things happen.

One of the most interesting things for me was the portrayal of the minister as a working-class person and promoted as such.

So, this working class person was buying a second home for PS800,000 which was due to include PS40,000 in stamp duty.

Well, it will surprise many people in Paisley, the town where I have lived my whole life and am proud to represent, because I don't know any working-class people in my town - in fact, in my whole circle of friends and acquaintances - that are buying second homes for almost a million pounds.

Being working class at Westminster must be very different from being working class in Paisley.

Anyway, after that news there was another announcement about a fresh start almost as soon as we heard that the ambassador for the United Kingdom in America was being asked some very awkward questions.

It seems that, although the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, knew he had a relationship with a very unsavoury character, he didn't know he had a deep relationship with the unsavoury character.

Is it me or is the fact he was friends in any way with such an unsavoury character should have probably ensured that he wasn't made ambassador in the first place? It might just be me.

That episode seemed very careless to me, much more serious than the first where confusion, naivety and incomprehension can be looked at as a factor.

Then we have another relaunch, but wait, we have a relaunch on the day before the president of a nation that is bombing men, women and children in Gaza is visiting.

This individual has signed artillery shells and has stated that there are no innocents in Gaza.

A statement that the United Nations is very interested in.

Then last week we had the state visit of a person that knew the same unsavoury character the ambassador knew and is a backer of the actions taking place in Gaza.

While it is understandable that this meeting had to take place it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Quite frankly, this new restart has still to be born.

CAPTION(S):

End of the road Peter Mandelson was sacked as the UK's ambassador to the United States by Prime Minister Keir Starmer following revelations of his personal friendship with shamed financier Jeffrey Epstein

Article Details

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Author:	GEORGE ADAM
Publication:	Paisley Daily Express (Paisley, Scotland)
Geographic Code:	4EUUK
Date:	Sep 22, 2025
Words:	597
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