Politics

Starmer to no longer accept donations to pay for clothes

Starmer to no longer accept donations to pay for clothes

Sir Keir Starmer will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner also announced they would take the same approach moving forward.

The decision by the prime minister, chancellor and deputy prime minister follows scrutiny of Sir Keir and his wife for accepting donations.

The prime minister has accepted work clothing donations worth £16,200, and multiple pairs of glasses, to the value of £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register also shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations, too, to the value of £2,230.

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Sky News understands that in June, the deputy prime minister also received a donation from Lord Waheed Alli, a television executive who has donated to Labour – and Sir Keir and his wife – over the last 20 years.

That donation to Ms Rayner was worth £3,550. It was registered but its nature, now understood to be work clothing, was not published.

Since the backlash over freebies, the registrar was contacted to ensure the donation to Ms Rayner was published with all the necessary details.

It is understood Ms Reeves accepted a donation of £7,500 from donor Juliet Rosenfeld, which was used to pay for clothing, since the beginning of last year.

She declared this as a cash donation rather than as a gift – and has been assured this was within the rules, the Guardian reported.

It’s a strategic move from the newbie government

The amount of political chatter over freebies and hospitality for the prime minister was starting to look both indulgent and frivolous – and it appears as if Number 10 has finally had enough.

I was told Sir Keir Starmer will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes, and neither will Rachel Reeves or Angela Rayner in an apparent attempt to stop this story spiraling through this week and into the Labour conference this weekend.

It’s a strategic move from the newbie government, who had let the story run on perhaps longer than even colleagues in their own party had wanted.

Baroness Harriet Harman spoke out about Number 10 trying to justify these free gifts, stating it was just making things worse.

Ministers had also been defending the prime minister’s decision to accept donations for days – the latest was Jess Phillips, saying accepting Arsenal season tickets was “not important”.

Seven hours later though, it appears they’ve decided some of it is important – and have declared a commitment to not accept any more clothing in the future.

Questions still remain over the other hospitality gifts and it’s not entirely clear yet whether this will stem the bleed of bad news before conference weekend, or whether this tacit admittance of a misstep opens another can of worms.

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29:14

Nigel Farage has called out the PM for accepting free gifts

Sky News revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP as his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.

This had all been declared as per the rules but backbench MPs had been expressing concern that the government’s rhetoric of tough decisions on the economy jars with the image of a prime minister accepting freebies.

The row started over the weekend with controversy over Sir Keir’s wife’s clothes.

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Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said earlier today she is “satisfied” with the prime minister’s explanation of why he has taken the freebies.

She said if he “wasn’t doing a good job in our country” then she “would be more concerned”.

Ms Phillips went on to say it’s not that she doesn’t think it’s important, but added: “I haven’t had a single email about it.

“I have had lots of emails about people not being able to get on a housing list.”

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People react to the prime minister receiving gifts and freebies

Challenged on the fact that it looks bad having just taken away the winter fuel allowance from most pensioners, Ms Phillips said these are “completely separate things”.

“And had he never been to watch the Arsenal, there would still be a £22bn black hole that had to be paid for,” she added.

She said: “All I can say is I’m absolutely knackered trying to make things better.”

What has the PM said in response to criticism?

Speaking to journalists this week, the prime minister said “all MPs get gifts” and he thinks the need to declare them is “a good framework”.

“Wherever there are gifts from anyone, I’m going to comply with the rules,” he said.

“It’s very important to me that the rules are followed. I’ve always said that. I said that before the election. I reinforced it after the election.”

On his acceptance of Arsenal tickets, he added: “I’m a massive Arsenal fan. I can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore, if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a game. You could say: ‘Well, bad luck.’

“That’s why gifts have to be registered. But… never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”