Lord Alli told to make formal apology after millionaire Labour peer who paid for Keir Starmer’s clothes is found to have breached rules on declaring business interests_Nhy
Keir Starmer‘s top Labour donor has been told to make a grovelling apology in the House of Lords after being found to have breached rules over declarations of business interests.
Multi-millionaire peer Lord Waheed Alli was today found to have broken the code of conduct four times.
The House of Lords standards commissioner has recommended that he make a formal apology in the Lords. It is a minor sanction but it will be embarrassing for the PM.
Sir Keir found himself at the centre of an ethics row last month after it was revealed that he, Lady Starmer and senior members of the Cabinet benefitted from donations toward clothing and fashion assistance from the former Asos chairman.
Multi-millionaire peer Lord Waheed Alli was today found to have broken the code of conduct four times.
The House of Lords commissioner for standards investigation recommended he write a letter of apology for the breaches.
‘While I consider each individual breach of the Code to be minor, I have found there to be four breaches in total, and have therefore recommended that Lord Alli write a letter of apology to the Chair of the Conduct Committee, Baroness Manningham-Buller,’ the report said.
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Environment Secretary Steve Reed squirms as he admits he didn’t know he was getting free football ticket worth £1,700 from parent company of ‘failing’ water firm
The Environment Secretary squirmed today as he admitted he did not know he was getting free football ticket from the parent company of a ‘failing’ water firm.
Steve Reed was repeatedly challenged over taking the £1,700 gift from Hutchison 3G UK, which ultimately owns Northumbrian Water.
In a round of interviews, he insisted he was not aware the company had any link to the water industry.
But he acknowledged that if he had checked the situation he probably would not have accepted the hospitality.
‘There was nobody from a water company that was involved in offering those tickets. There was nobody from a water company at that event,’ Mr Reed told Sky News.
He said there were ‘no conversations about water’ at the event, which happened before Labour entered government.
When Mr Reed urged presenter Kay Burley to ‘judge me by what I do’, she shot back: ‘I am.’
Steve Reed was repeatedly challenged over taking the £1,700 gift from Hutchison 3G UK, which ultimately owns Northumbrian Water
The Parliamentary register of interests show Mr Reed received a ticket to a Chelsea v Crystal Palace match with hospitality in December 2023, declared as worth £1,786
Pressed if in hindsight he would still accept the ticket, Mr Reed said: ‘I probably wouldn’t but I didn’t know at the time and it hasn’t influenced a single decision that I’ve taken…
‘I don’t think it’s helpful that you’re able to ask me questions like this.’
Asked later on ITV about the ticket, he said that ‘your inference as well as your facts, I’m afraid, are wrong’.
‘It was a telecoms company called Three. They’re not a water company. They’re a telecoms company.
‘It was declared openly and transparently, and if your inference is that by … taking tickets from a telecoms company, it’s weakened my resolve on water, just look at my record.
‘I had them in my office seven days after the election.
‘I got the toughest action that any Secretary of State has ever taken against the water companies going through right now, making them face personal criminal liability and banning their bonuses.
‘And I’m launching a commission today to reset the sector entirely so your inference as well as your facts, I’m afraid, are wrong.’
The Parliamentary register of interests show Mr Reed received a ticket to a Chelsea v Crystal Palace match with hospitality in December 2023, declared as worth £1,786.
Those were provided by Hutchison 3G UK Limited, a subsidiary of Hong-Kong based CK Hutchison Holdings Limited.
Northumbrian Water Group’s ultimate parent company is CK Hutchison Holdings via two other intermediate holding companies.
Ofwat chief executive David Black earlier this year called Northumbrian and two other firms’ records of polluting rivers and waterways ‘a catalogue of failure’.
Ofwat chief executive David Black earlier this year called Northumbrian and two other firms’ records of polluting rivers and waterways ‘a catalogue of failure’
