Sir Keir Starmer has defended accepting gifts from a millionaire Labour Party donor who was later given a pass to access 10 Downing Street.
The Prime Minister suggested he would continue to accept gifts from Lord Alli despite a row over whether some of his donations had not been declared in line with parliamentary rules.
Asked on Monday whether he would continue to accept gifts from Lord Alli, Sir Keir said “all Members of Parliament receive gifts” and “the important thing is that they are declared in accordance with the rules”.
The Labour MP gave Sir Keir tens of thousands of pounds to spend on suits and glasses, and over the weekend it emerged that Lady Starmer, the Prime Minister’s wife, had also received £5,000 worth of clothes and toiletries.
MPs must declare gifts and donations to parliamentary authorities within 28 days of receiving them. They must declare “any interest that someone might reasonably consider to influence their actions or words as a parliamentarian”, and the declarations are then published in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
However, the Prime Minister only declared the gifts to his wife, which were reportedly received before and after he entered Downing Street, last week after initially believing they did not need to be added to the register.
THE Conservatives have written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to request an investigation into the failure to declare donations.
On Monday, Sir Keir dodged several questions about whether he would continue to receive handouts from Lord Alli, promising only to “play by the rules”.
He said it would be “a bit of a stretch” to deny him the right to accept Arsenal tickets as he could not sit in his usual seat for security reasons.
Sir Keir accepted more than 20 free tickets to football matches in the last Parliament, according to figures released in July, using complimentary seats to watch Arsenal play Manchester United, City of Manchester and Porto.
Sir Keir said on Monday: “All members of Parliament receive gifts. The rules then say that above a certain value you have to declare gifts, so that everyone can see what it was, how much it was, who it came from, and so that you and others can ask questions about it. That is a good structure. It is the right structure.”
Asked if he felt he had done nothing wrong and would continue to accept such donations, he said: “The problem is, let’s take football as an example. I’m a big Arsenal fan. I can’t go into the stands for security reasons. So 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, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit.”
Asked again whether he would continue to accept gifts from Lord Alli, he said: “Well, wherever there are gifts from anyone, I will abide by the rules… Look, there are gifts for all MPs of different sizes and shapes. The important thing is that they are declared in accordance with the rules.”
Asked whether an anti-corruption adviser would be appointed, he continued: “Well, there is a huge difference between statements and corruption. Statements are about making statements correctly so that you and others can see statements made correctly.”