Dear oh dear. Rachel Reeves has found herself in yet another spot of bother, as it transpires that the Chancellor is under investigation for a late declaration of theatre tickets. The Labour politician is being probed by Westminster’s standards watchdog for belatedly declaring two sets of gifted tickets from the National Theatre after the freebies from last year were only registered last month. How very interesting…
Reeves was given free tickets to a December showing of Ballet Shoes last year, worth £276, as well as freebies worth £266 to Nye – about the founder of the NHS – in March 2024. Yet despite MP guidance stating that politicians must declare any hospitality within 28 days of receiving it, Reeves took much longer to record her freebies. As reported by the Times, it is understood that the Chancellor did declare the tickets earlier to a ministerial interest register, however an administrative error meant that the gifts were not declared on the parliamentary register. Now the commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, has opened an inquiry into whether the senior Labour politician broke the rules. For her part, Reeves’ spokesperson insisted: ‘The chancellor’s interests are fully declared and up to date.’
It’s the latest humiliation for a Chancellor who has, in her ten months in office, regularly made headlines over freebie fiascos. In March this year, Reeves was criticised for attending a Sabrina Carpenter gig, which other concert-goers had paid up to £900 to attend, at the same time her government was in talks to slash disability benefits for Brits. And in 2024, Labour MPs sparked outrage after 14 politicians (including seven Cabinet ministers) received free tickets to the US singer’s London shows – totalling a whopping £23,328. So much for the party of the working people, eh?
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