KEIR Starmer has paid back more than £6000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since entering Number 10 amid a row over ministerial donations, Downing Street has announced.
The Prime Minister is reimbursing the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four tickets to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.
It comes after Starmer and other Cabinet members – who vowed to “clean up” British politics – faced weeks of criticism for accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.
The Prime Minister has now committed to overhauling hospitality rules for ministers to ensure better transparency about what is provided following the backlash.
Starmer said it was “right” for him to repay the donations while new principles for accepting gifts were drawn up. He told reporters in Brussels: “We came in as a government of change.
“We are now going to bring forward principles for donations, because, until now, politicians have used their best individual judgment on a case-by-case basis. I think we need some principles of general application.
“So, I took the position that until the principles are in place it was right for me to make those repayments.”
On Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code.
“Ahead of the publication of the new code, the Prime Minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members’ interests.”
Gifts paid for by Starmer include four Taylor Swift tickets from Universal Music Group totalling £2800, two from the Football Association at a cost of £598, and four to Doncaster Races from Arena Racing Corporation at £1939.
An £839 clothing rental agreement with Edeline Lee, the designer recently worn by his wife to London Fashion Week, along with one hour of hair and makeup, was also covered by the Prime Minister.
However, Starmer has also accepted a further £6134 in “clothing and personal support” for his wife in June, from prominent Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli, according to the latest register of interests published on Wednesday.
That declaration is likely to come under scrutiny after it emerged earlier on Wednesday that the peer is under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog over a potential breach of the members’ code of conduct.
The Lords’ commissioner is looking at an “alleged non-registration of interests” by the former media executive.
The Prime Minister also took £920 from Tottenham Hotspur stadium for two tickets to the north London derby in September, and £1000 from Arsenal FC for a game in August, according to the register.
He has previously defended his decision to accept hospitality in order to attend football matches, citing security concerns which prevent him from watching from the stands without a large and expensive police presence.
SNP Cabinet Office spokesperson Brendan O'Hara MP said Starmer must now instruct the Independent Adviser to open a full investigation into the donations scandal as well as the Downing Street security pass gifted to Lord Alli.
O'Hara added: "The Labour Party freebies scandal has damaged public confidence in the government and raised significant questions about why these gifts were taken, how they were recorded, what donors expected in return, and why Lord Alli was given a pass to the halls of power.
"Voters are understandably angry that Sir Keir and his Labour Party ministers have been milking the system for all it's worth, while imposing painful austerity cuts on the rest of us.
"The money handed back today is only a tiny fraction of the £100,000 plus that Sir Keir personally benefited from - let alone the £800,000 of freebies and donations that Labour ministers have received over the past year alone."
It has also been revealed Liam Conlon, the Labour MP and son of of Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray, accepted two tickets to a Taylor Swift concert from the Premier League, according to the latest register of interests.
The MP for Beckenham and Penge declared £1600 worth in hospitality for the gig at Wembley Stadium, received on August 20.
