To the latest development in Labour’s freebie fiasco, as it transpires that Sir Keir Starmer has paid back over £6,000 of gifts he received from wealthy donors. No. 10 revealed the Prime Minister chose to cough up the funds for six Taylor Swift tickets, four Doncaster racing tickets and the clothing gifted to his wife. The news that Sir Keir would be paying back the cost of the freebies himself came last night as the donations were about to be uncovered in the latest list of MPs’ financial declarations.
Starmer’s about turn poses some rather awkward questions for the rest of Starmer’s cabinet however – who haven’t quite found it in themselves to do the same. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner declared £836 for an Ibiza DJ booth visit, while Foreign Secretary David Lammy was given tickets to for an Arsenal game, the latest register shows. The revelations follow the frockgate scandal, where it emerged that Lady Starmer had accepted clothing donations from Lord Alli which were not initially declared in line with parliamentary rules. It then transpired that Starmer had received £107,000 worth of gifts since 2019, including £40,000 of football treats. The developments sparked outrage among Sir Keir’s parliamentary party, with one MP remarking: ‘This is what hypocrisy looks like. Most of us have been fighting the “they’re all the same” rhetoric for our whole careers and Keir’s double standards just prove it’s entirely accurate.’ Ouch.
The update follows the news that Lord Alli – who funded workwear and luxury accommodation for the Labour leader – is now under investigation by the Lords Commissioner, with the millionaire businessman being looked into over ‘alleged non-registration of interests leading to potential breaches of paragraphs 14(a) and 17 of the thirteenth edition of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords’. Goodness. Downing Street is expected to publish a new code of conduct for ministers in the near future, in a bid to tighten the rules on gifting. Yet despite Sir Keir’s best efforts, the freebie fiasco continues to rumble on…
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