A minister has dodged admitting whether Sir Keir Starmer’s personal standing had been hit by the row over freebies.
Sarah Jones said stressed that the government was “worried” about the lack of trust in politicians more widely but it was “something the PM is addressing”.
Sarah Jones dodges question on Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity (Image: Parliament)
She added that he is “showing leadership” after he paid back more than £6,000 of gifts that were about to be made public.
The Prime Minister covered the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four horse racing tickets for Doncaster and clothing loaned to his wife.
Starmer isn’t in politics to be popular, says minister (Image: Getty)
Asked whether Sir Keir had done the right thing, Sarah Jones told Sky: “He said we need to have a look at the principles that sit behind the Ministerial Code.
“We’re looking at those and in advance of that going out he has paid back some of the tickets, some of the payments he had during his time as Prime Minister, and I think that is a thing he is doing in advance of looking at his principles and the code.”
Challenged on why he had not repaid his Arsenal tickets, Ms Jones said: “I don’t know the details of it. All of it is I know he has paid some payments back… It’s the right thing to do. Nobody is suggesting he’s broken any rules.”
“I think it’s good that we’re looking at those roles, as I say nobody’s broken any rules that exist at the moment. It’s somebody that nobody is suggesting. I think under the last government the issue was all about transparency.”
Pressed on Sir Keir’s unpopularity, Ms Jones said: “He is not going to be worrying about popularity. He hasn’t gone into politics to do that. But he is really clear that we need to build trust in politicians and politics.
“We are going to go govern in the way that we say we were, which is to drive up integrity, grow the economy and improve people’s lives, and make sure we listen to the public.”
It comes after Sir Keir 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 committed to overhauling hospitality rules for ministers to ensure better transparency about what is provided following the backlash.
SEE MORE :
Labour MPs ‘scared for their jobs’ over Israel, says MP who defied Keir Starmer
Labour MPs who disagree with Sir Keir Starmer on the Israel-Hamas conflict are “scared for their jobs”, a now-independent backbencher has claimed.
Zarah Sultana, currently suspended from the party for six months after defying Sir Keir over the two-child benefit cap, was asked how many Labour colleagues agreed with her pro-Palestinian stance.
Zarah Sultana has been suspended from the party for six months (Image: Getty)
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Many do, because we are seeing death of 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza. We are seeing death in Lebanon and we know the UK government could take a different route where it prioritised lives, treated them all equally and ended all arms sales.
Party members are ‘scared for their jobs’ (Image: Getty)
“I think it’s deeply concerning that people aren’t willing to be public about that because they are scared for their jobs.”
Nick Robinson, a Today programme presenter, said he had contacted six sitting Labour MPs but added: “None would come on the programme as they said, and I quote one of the MPs we contacted, ‘it would cost us our jobs’.”
Sir Keir in July suspended seven Labour MPs from the party after he faced an early rebellion supporting an amendment to the King’s Speech in favour of scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Ms Sultana and Imran Hussain were kicked out of the Parliamentary Labour Party over the Commons rebellion.
Ms Sultana suggested at the time that she was the victim of a “macho virility test” and said she “slept well knowing that I took a stand against child poverty” after being handed the six-month suspension.
