Sir Keir Starmer is in a “pressure” job and should be allowed to enjoy gifts and hospitality if it is declared correctly, a cabinet minister has told Sky News.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said anyone who is a prime minister “spends pretty much every bit of their waking life working on it” and if they are able to do something important to them “I don’t think that’s a problem”.
Politics Live: Anger as Starmer accepts thousands in gifts
It comes after Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project revealed Sir Keir has received substantially more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader.
Since December 2019, he received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
The Premier League is one of the biggest donors of hospitality, and Sir Keir – a renowned Arsenal fan – has received almost £40,000 in tickets overall since December 2019.
Mr Reynolds said: “I think anyone who’s doing a job of the pressure, of the scale, of the importance that the prime minister does, spends pretty much every bit of their waking life working on it.
“And if they’ve got the chance for a little bit of time with family or something that’s important to them, in this case, lifelong support for a football team, I don’t think that’s a problem.”
He added people “would reasonably expect” prime ministers to sit in a directors’ box at a sporting event for security reasons.
Asked about accepting free tickets to concerts like Taylor Swift and Coldplay, he said: “These are major cultural, sporting events. I think it’s important people in public life have some connection to that.”
MPs are required to register gifts and donations within 28 days.
The business secretary went on to say there are “clear rules” in place and he has “no objection to how the system works”.
Read more:
See how many gifts your MP declares
Our guide to exploring the Westminster Accounts
He added the government’s controversial decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners should not be “conflated” with the prime minister accepting freebies.
“I think to conflate the two issues and forget the fact that there are major issues facing the UK that can only be addressed because we’ve got a change of government wouldn’t be right,” he said.
Labour MP brands Starmer an ‘ivory tower leader’ – is that the case?
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Sky News this morning gave a valiant attempt to explain, justify and defend the prime minister’s appetite for free gifts.
However, Reynolds decided to take a different approach to that of Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who on Sunday said that PMs and their spouses must look their best on the world stage and therefore accepting gifts of clothes was acceptable when there is no taxpayer funded budget for it.
Today, Reynolds’ excuse was that the prime minister works incredibly hard and deserves a “wider life experience” rather than simply working every second of the day.
But with allegations of a conflict of interest casting an ugly shadow over the PM’s appetite for free tickets to football matches while his government is considering implementing a football regulator – something that No 10 categorically denies – this story looks set to rumble on into Labour conference.
Speaking to Labour backbenchers, they are deeply frustrated with the way this story has been handled by Starmer’s top team.
One even accused Starmer of being an “ivory tower leader”, explaining the rhetoric of tough decisions on the economy – like cutting winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners – was jarring with the image of a prime minister enjoying over £100,000 worth of gifts since December 2019.
During the election campaign, Starmer branded himself as a man of the people while attacking Rishi Sunak for being “out of touch” with ordinary people.
Now Starmer is beginning to learn that branding yourself as holier-than-thou may not have been the genius political strategy it appeared to be three months ago.
Sir Keir defended his right to continue to take football freebies earlier this week, saying that because of security reasons: “If I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a game.”
He is also under pressure after a report in the BBC claimed his chief of staff Sue Gray is paid more than £170,000, which is a higher salary than the prime minister is paid.
Mr Reynolds said the salaries of advisers “are not set by politicians” and “there’s an official process that does that”.
He added: “Sue Gray is getting on with the job of this government delivering on our promises, I think that’s what matters more than anything else for anyone who works in Downing Street, and I can assure you that is exactly what is happening.”
