He declared £12,588 of gifts from the Premier League,includingfour Taylor Swift tickets during the election campaign worth £4000,two Euro finals tickets worth £1628,and numerous tickets for several Arsenal matches adding up to well over £6000.
This takes the total value of Starmer’s freebies to more than £100,000 – a figure 2½ times higher than any other MP – since December 2019.
Starmer enjoyed four free tickets to see Taylor Swift perform at Wembley Stadium.Credit:Getty Images
The prime minister has justified the clothing donations to him and his wife by saying “wherever there are gifts from anyone,I’m going to comply with rules”.
Asked on radio if he was worried about the optics of taking so many hospitality tickets,Starmer said “most people” would agree his argument for doing so was “fair”.
He said because of security advice,he was no longer able to sit in the stands at Emirates Stadium,Arsenal’s home ground in north London,like he had done for years as a passionate fan,and that instead of sitting in a private box,donated by the club,he was saving taxpayers’ money. The box is advertised as costing at least £8750 per game.
But several media outlets have reported that government officials are worried Starmer’s willingness to accept hospitality at football matches could amount to a conflict of interest existing given plans to overhaul the sport’s regulator,which many clubs oppose.
Football fan:Starmer (left) in the stands before the UEFA Nations League match between Ireland and England in Dublin this month.Credit:Getty Images
At a grassroots level,where Britain’s relationship with politics has become severely fractured since the Brexit vote in 2016 and a revolving door of disastrous Tory leaders,some of Labour’s wise heads understand the damage such tone-deaf decisions can do – especially after his government just controversially axed winter fuel payments for around 10 million pensioners.
Harriet Harman,a former deputy Labour leader and now a member of the House of Lords,said Starmer should stop trying to “justify” accepting gifts as it was “making things worse”.
“You can either double down on it and try and justify it or you can just say it was probably a misstep,if I had my time again I wouldn’t do it,and therefore I’m going to auction for charity or something,” she told a political podcast,Sky News’Electoral Dysfunction.
On Friday,after having sustained a week of attacks,Starmer and several of his senior colleagues announced he’d no longer accept free clothes.
Lord Waheed Alli is Starmer’s biggest personal donor.
While the so-called freebies scandal resonates with voters,it is a power struggle at the centre of Starmer’s government this week which could cause as much damage. Concerns over the influence of Sue Gray,a former senior bureaucrat,emerged again this week when it was leaked to the media she is paid more to be his chief of staff than the prime minister.
According to the BBC,which broke the story,Starmer is paid a salary of £166,786 while Gray is now paid £170,000. Gray’s salary has reportedly provoked anger because of lingering resentment among senior political aides about their own pay and dismay at the “optics”.
Starmer insisted he was “completely in control” of his government despite a bitter briefing war over Gray’s salary – now subject to a leak inquiry – and he said his team was united behind his “big mandate to deliver change”.
On this week’s effort,it appears they’ll take some more convincing.
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