If I want to go to a gig I’ll pay for it’: Minister condemns Rachel Reeves over ‘inappropriate’ freebie tickets to Sabrina Carpenter gig as Chancellor confirms who picked up the tab_Nhy
Rachel Reeves faced a battering from another Labour minister today over her Sabrina Carpenter freebie.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said it was ‘inappropriate’ to take free tickets to gigs, insisting: ‘If I want to go to a concert at the O2 I’ll pay for it.’
The extraordinary attack on his colleague came after the Chancellor defended accepting the £600 gift for her and a ‘family member’, pointing to security issues.
However, support for embattled Ms Reeves from within government has been distinctly muted.
Yesterday Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander effectively cut her fellow Cabinet minister adrift saying she did not have ‘anything further to add’ and stressing she had not taken any tickets personally.
Downing Street also gave a lukewarm endorsement, saying the Prime Minister ‘supports all of his ministers making their own judgments’ over hospitality.
Mr Pennycook told LBC: ‘I don’t personally think it’s appropriate. If I want to go to a concert at the O2 I’ll pay for it.
‘But individual MPs, individual ministers make their own decisions. I think that the important thing is that everything is declared and above board, so individual people can make their choices as to whether they think it’s appropriate to take tickets on occasions.
‘I personally haven’t done, as I said, at the O2, and wouldn’t do.’
It came as Ms Reeves declared the gift and confirmed it was from US sports and entertainment giant AEG.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said accepting the freebie at the O2 Arena for her and a ‘family member’ was the right thing to do
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said it was ‘inappropriate’ to take free tickets to gigs, insisting: ‘If I want to go to a concert at the O2 I’ll pay for it’
Downing Street insisted that Mr Pennycook was speaking ‘on his own behalf’ rather than for the Government.
Asked whether Sir Keir Starmer agreed with his suggestion that it was not ‘appropriate’, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I think he was speaking on his own behalf, as the ministerial code says it is a matter of individual judgment for each minister concerned.
‘What the Government has done is strengthen the rules to ensure transparency, to include new principles and to enshrine the seven principles of public life into the code.’
But shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said the comments amounted to ‘an extraordinary slap down of the profligate champagne lifestyle Rachel Reeves has been enjoying since becoming Chancellor’.
‘When senior Labour ministers are openly criticising her judgement then it’s no suprise business and investors are as well,’ he said.
‘The Chancellor must kick her addiction to freebies and focus on undoing the damage she’s doing to family finances in her emergency budget tomorrow.’
Asked on Times Radio yesterday if Ms Reeves’ freebie ‘felt right’, Ms Alexander said: ‘I haven’t taken any tickets to be honest since I was elected back in June as a new member of parliament and going straight into the Ministry of Justice and then coming straight into the Department for Transport.
‘I actually sadly haven’t been to see any concerts at all over the last nine months, partly because I’ve been very, very busy.’
Pressed on whether she would ever take tickets, Ms Alexander added: ‘I have never, as a Member of Parliament, accepted tickets to any concerts or anything like that.’
The concert tickets revelation came as Ms Reeves confirmed she will cut Whitehall running costs by 15 per cent, which could result in the loss of 10,000 civil service jobs.
It risked reviving the anger that erupted last year when it emerged the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were enjoying lavish freebies, including clothing and concert tickets.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander gave the Chancellor a less than full-hearted backing after she admitted accepting gig tickets worth £600
Ms Reeves was last year forced to vow not to accept any clothing as Chancellor after it was revealed she had taken £7,500 for outfits while in opposition.
Sir Keir Starmer, who received £32,000 for clothes from Labour donor Lord Alli, had to pay back thousands of pounds in gifts, including tickets to see Taylor Swift.
Ms Reeves cited security grounds when asked about the freebie on Sunday, claiming she could not sit with other fans because she requires close protection as a senior minister.
‘I do now have security which means it’s not as easy as it would’ve been in the past to just sit in a concert, although that would probably be a lot easier for everyone concerned,’ Ms Reeves told the BBC.
Asked if she paid for the tickets, she replied: ‘Obviously I’ll declare the value of them, but they weren’t tickets that you were able to buy.’
Ms Reeves accepted free tickets to watch pop star Sabrina Carpenter – who opened for Taylor Swift in the US leg of the Eras Tour – in a corporate box
The box used by Ms Reeves for the gig earlier this month is believed to belong to AEG, which also owns the long-term lease for the O2 Arena (pictured)
Mish Rahman, a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee until last year, branded the Chancellor ‘Scrounger Reeves’, asking how she could justify her free tickets as her fiscal rules hit ‘the most vulnerable’.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell told the Mail it was ‘indefensible’ that Ms Reeves – who is paid about £160,000 a year – accepted the free tickets.
She said: ‘Those who live in poverty will rightly question, as they struggle to get by, why those who are cutting their lifeline are in receipt of handouts. Not to recognise the inequity in this goes to the heart of the problem.’
Labour peer Lord Sikka added: ‘Cleansing British politics is a necessary condition for building a good society. That requires criminalising the receiving and giving of all political donations in any form.’
Sir Keir was also among a slew of top politicians to receive free tickets and hospitality to Taylor Swift‘s gigs in London last summer.
He later paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and vowed – together with Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Ms Reeves – not to accept any further donations for clothing.
Sir Keir has continued to accept box tickets to Arsenal football games after being told he can’t sit in the stands with regular fans due to security concerns.
The PM has been a long-time season ticket holder at the north London club.
Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria attended a Taylor Swift gig at Wembley Stadium last June
