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Chancellor Rachel Reeves turned the tables on the BBC’s Nick Robinson while being grilled on her free clothes, pointing out the presenter took her to the Proms in an outing paid for by the broadcaster.
In an interview with the BBC, just hours before her speech to Labour’s conference in Liverpool, Ms Reeves defended the party from wider allegations of sleaze and cronyism centred on ministers’ repeated acceptance of gifts and freebies.
She said she does not think hospitality gifts “brings (her) into conflict in any way” when it comes to decisions she makes at the Treasury.
Ms Reeves said: “I don’t begrudge ministers or indeed shadow ministers going to a football match or going to a pop concert.”
“I’ve been with both of you Nick (Robinson) and Chris (Mason) to the first night of the proms and the last night of the proms as guests of the BBC.”
She later added: “I always declare anything in the right and proper way and I think that that is important, but I don’t think that brings me into conflict in any way in the decisions that I make as chancellor or indeed as shadow chancellor.”
Closing the interview a few minutes later, Mr Robinson added: “Chancellor, thanks for that attempt at check mate.”
The BBC Proms is an eight-week classical music festival held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The chancellor also defended Angela Rayner in a row over the deputy prime minister reportedly hiring a vanity photographer to publicise her work.
She said it is normal for government departments to have communications budgets and stressed the photographer would not just promote Ms Rayner, but the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as a whole.
On Monday morning, she told Times Radio: “All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets. It’s not a personal photographer. It’s to promote the campaigning work of governments.”
It came after it emerged deputy PM and housing minister Ms Rayner had hired the photographer, making her the first deputy prime minister to have one.
She had previously criticised Boris Johnson for hiring “a coterie of vanity photographers” after it emerged there were three photographers working in Downing Street.
But she now has her own snapper earning a minimum salary of £57,000 per year.
The MHCLG said: “Many government departments employ official photographers to share the work of the department and ministers with the public. This is a civil service role and will be part of MHCLG’s communications team.”
It is understood that Ms Rayner was not involved in the recruitment process for the photographer.
