Sir Keir Starmer was ridiculed on Question Time for accepting free gifts from a rich donor – with one panellist brutally declaring in a withering nine-word putdown: “He should have gone to Specsavers like everyone else.”
Jill Kirby criticised Sir Keir Starmer for accepting the free gifts (Image: BBC/Getty)
The Prime Minister has faced widespread criticism after the Register of Members’ Interests showed he took thousands of pounds worth of clothing from Lord Waheed Alli, a prominent Labour backer, who was then given a pass to No 10.
The Labour leader had already admitted to getting more than £16,200 worth of “work clothing items”, as well as several pairs of new glasses worth thousands of pounds in total.
But the PM is now facing a standards investigation after failing to declare more than £5,000 of high-end items for his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.
On top of that, the keen Arsenal fan accepted more than £35,000 of free football tickets over the last parliament, alongside other offers of hospitality.
On Thursday’s Question Time, Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons, said Sir had always been transparent about donations he has received.
She said: “The really important thing is that that is not in any way shaping policy. In fact it’s the opposite.
“The vested interests, the corporate interests … we are taking head on.”
However, columnist Jill Kirby claimed Lord Alli “was clearly buying influence”.
She added: “Keir Starmer does not need to have his clothes bought for him – he should have gone to Specsavers like everyone else.”
Sir Keir has denied being the “king of the freebies” after receiving more than £100,000 worth of gifts and donations – more than any other MP and twice the amount of Ms Powell, who was in second place.
Labour grandee and former deputy leader Harriet Harman urged Sir Keir to “deal with the criticism” and admit that such donations were not acceptable.
She said “doubling down” and trying to “justify” the freebies was angering and alienating voters.
SEE MORE :
Keir Starmer slammed by senior Labour figure – ‘stop trying to justify freebies’, PM told
Sir Keir Starmer has been slapped down by one of Labour’s most senior figures and told to stop trying to “justify” freebies.
Keir Starmer slammed for £100k of ‘freebies’ (Image: Getty Images)
Baroness Harriet Harman told the Prime Minister “doubling down” is angering and alienating voters.
Sir Keir has denied being “king of the freebies” amid a deepening political crisis over gifts.
The Prime Minister claimed voters are more interested in “delivery, delivery, delivery” than the row over donations.
Keir Starmer, Party leader of the Labour Party at a Premier League game (Image: Getty Images)
He has received more than £100,000, including almost £40,000 in football tickets, since December 2019, more than twice the amount of Labour’s Lucy Powell in second place.
But Mrs Harman, urged Starmer to “deal with the criticism” and accept that such donations were not acceptable.
She said: “He just needs to say, ‘Right, with hindsight, I’m going to do things differently’… and then move on.
“It’s not a hanging offence, but I think doubling down and trying to justify it is making things worse.
“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 [it] for charity or something. I think at the moment he’s just got to get rid of every distraction he possibly can.”
Sir Keir Starmer, an avid Arsenal fan, has come under pressure in recent weeks for accepting more than £35,000 of free football tickets over the last Parliament, along with thousands more in free clothes and concert tickets.
Although he is an Arsenal season ticket holder, Sir Keir told the BBC on Thursday that security concerns meant he could no longer watch games from the stands without a large and expensive police presence.
He told BBC Yorkshire: “Frankly, I’d rather be in the stands but I’m not going to ask the taxpayer to indulge me to be in the stands when I could go and sit somewhere else where the club and the security say it’s safer for me to be. That is for me a commonsense situation.”
Sir Keir’s register of interests shows most of his tickets have been provided by individual football clubs or the Premier League, although investment firm Cain International and Bishop Auckland-based Teescraft Engineering paid for him to attend games against Chelsea and Newcastle respectively.
Speaking to BBC London, the Prime Minister added: “Once these things are explained, which is the whole point of the rules and declarations, I think most people would say well, that’s a perfectly sensible arrangement.”
Premier League football clubs have meanwhile been lobbying against the Government’s plans to introduce a football regulator, leading opposition MPs to raise questions over a potential conflict of interest.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the MP for Huntingdon, said the Prime Minister’s acceptance of free football tickets meant his decisions on the football regulator “should receive ‘forensic’ scrutiny”.
Sir Keir’s defence comes as a new poll revealed only 8% of people said they thought donations of hospitality to politicians are acceptable.
The biggest donor of gifts and hospitality is Labour peer Waheed Alli, who gave the equivalent of £39,122.
These donations included an unspecified donation of accommodation worth £20,437, “work clothing” worth £16,200, and multiple pairs of glasses equivalent to £2,485.
But the Prime Minister was defiant about the criticism he is receiving.
He told BBC West: “I just sort of step back and ask myself ‘what did people vote for this year in the election?’
“And they voted for change. It was a big mandate for change. And I am absolutely focused and determined to deliver that change.
“That’s why we’re taking some of the tough decisions early because I want to fix the foundations, stabilise the economy.
“And then on that we can deliver the change that I think people really want to see from the government.”
During a regional broadcast round, Sir Keir also faced ridicule for being engulfed in this row after claiming he wants to clean up politics.
An ITV journalist pointed out that the Labour leader criticised Rishi Sunak for being out of touch, before adding: “Things haven’t changed, have they, Prime Minister?”
He responded: “The purpose of it is to deliver the change that people… when I visit Yorkshire, people talk to me about high prices, they talk to me about the energy, families and businesses.
“I’m focused on what they need to be changed and that’s why every day in, day out, I’m working on the change that we need to stabilize our economy, rebuild our public services, make sure our NHS is working properly again.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said attending events is “part of the job” of being a minister.
Asked on Times Radio if being given free tickets to events was a “perk” of the job, the Business Secretary said: “It’s not a perk of the job, it’s part of the job.
“People want to engage with decision makers. They want to ask you to be aware of what they are doing. Again, I think we have the right rules on transparency in relation to that. But this is about the job that we do and the need to be engaged with the sectors that we cover.”
Sir Keir also insisted he is “in control” of his Government amid fury from party advisers over his chief of staff Sue Gray’s pay of £170,000.
“I’m completely in control. I’m focused and every day the message from me to the team is exactly the same, which is we have to deliver.
“We were elected on a big mandate to deliver change, I am determined that we are going to do that.”
