Labour were engulfed in a ‘cash for croissants’ row last night after it emerged that the party was selling £30,000 tickets for breakfast with the Business Secretary.

Business leaders were offered the ‘rare chance to gain insights, network and exchange ideas’ among peers and Jonathan Reynolds at an exclusive event at the Ivy restaurant in Manchester.

The Scottish National Party have demanded a probe into what they called the ‘growing stench of sleaze’ in Sir Keir Starmer‘s government amid his party’s freebie row.

SNP Cabinet Office spokesman Brendan O’Hara said: ‘People expect transparency and accountability — and that is why a full inquiry into the Labour government cash for access scandal is required.’

Labour’s pitch — first reported by The Sun — offered bosses a photograph with Mr Reynolds at a cost of £15,000, or £30,000 for a ‘dynamic meeting of business minds’.

Labour were engulfed in another cash scandal after it emerged the party was selling £30,000 tickets for breakfast with the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, pictured

Shadow minister Andrew Griffiths warned: ‘Labour has been in office for less than 100 days but we can already add “cash for croissants” to “passes for glasses” in the growing list of scandals engulfing this government’

The invitation was circulated to businesses by Liam Didsbury, who until recently was the Labour’s North West director.

But party officials now say the breakfast is no longer going ahead.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband claimed Mr Reynolds was ‘unaware’ of the event, but warned his colleagues that ‘paying to have access’ was ‘not what we are about’.

‘Don’t do it again, is my message,’ he said.

‘Jonathan Reynolds was completely unaware of this. It shouldn’t have happened. It won’t happen again. You know, I’m sure lessons will be learned.’

He later confirmed the incident will be ‘properly dealt with’.

However, Mr Miliband suggested he would be prepared to eat bacon sandwiches at an event if all the money went to charity.

Referring to the infamous 2014 image of him messily devouring one, he said: ‘Yes. But not on camera.’

The incident has put further focus on Labour’s freebie scandal, which has seen Sir Keir and his frontbench team accept thousands worth of gifts and hospitality.

The party has faced weeks of ‘cash for access’ allegations after the PM was revealed to have received tens of thousands worth of freebies from Lord Alli.

The peer was forced to return a Downing Street access card given to him after he donated suits and glasses to Sir Keir.

Ed Miliband claimed Mr Reynolds was ‘unaware’ of the event, but warned his colleagues that ‘paying to have access’ was ‘not what we are about’

Sir Keir has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts — including Taylor Swift tickets — in a bid to move on from his donations row.

The PM also stayed in the businessman’s luxury penthouse in Covent Garden during the general election campaign.

Earlier this week, it emerged the media entrepreneur was under investigation by the Lords standards watchdog over allegedly failing to register interests.

Mr Reynolds has accepted tickets from Google worth more than £3,000 for Glastonbury last year, when the party was in opposition.

Shadow minister Andrew Griffiths warned: ‘This is a clear offer to bend the Business Secretary’s ear over government policy.’

He added: ‘There are proper channels through which businesses can engage with the government on policy matters but this is something completely different and won’t appear in any public record.

‘Labour has been in office for less than 100 days but we can already add “cash for croissants” to “passes for glasses” in the growing list of scandals engulfing this government.’

A Labour spokesman said: ‘The Business Secretary isn’t involved in this, was completely unaware, and isn’t attending.’

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer can’t afford to pay back cost of clothes on his £167,000 salary, says donor

Sir Keir Starmer could not easily afford to pay back tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of freebies, according to prominent party donor Dale Vince.

The Prime Minister’s £166,786 salary is ‘not madly big’ and the amount he would have to return is ‘a lot of money’, according to the millionaire eco-tycoon.

Mr Vince, the founder of green energy firm Ecotricity, also insisted there was no ‘corruption’ involved in Sir Keir ­taking £32,000 from Lord Alli to use on clothes to improve his appearance.

His comments came after Sir Keir agreed to pay back £6,000 for ­freebies he has enjoyed since the election, including tickets to Taylor Swift and clothes for his wife – a fraction of the amount he has received in gifts and hospitality in recent years.

Mr Vince, who has donated £5.5 million to Labour since 2020, told Times Radio ­yesterday: ‘His salary is not madly big. I know that for a lot of ­people in our country on average pay, it’s a lot of money but if you take tax off that and then you say, can you afford to pay back 20 grand for some clothes that he wore during the election campaign as part of a makeover?’

Dale Vince said the Prime Minister’s £166,786 salary is ‘not madly big’ and the amount he would have to return is ‘a lot of money’

His comments came after Sir Keir agreed to pay back £6,000 for ­freebies he has enjoyed since the election

He added: ‘I mean, Waheed Alli gave those clothes, it came from a good place. It was to smarten Keir Starmer up for the election campaign to help him win and that kind of stuff and there’s not ­corruption in here. I don’t know anything about his finances … what I’m saying is, it’s a lot of money, even when you’re on 150 grand a year, 20 grand is a lot of money.’

It was claimed in court this week that Mr Vince’s estranged wife believes he is in line for a peerage from the PM – and is trying to rush through their divorce so she does not get a title of her own.

But Mr Vince insisted his wife and her barrister could not know that, adding: ‘I think that’s so grubby. I’m not even fractionally expecting, like even 1 per cent expecting, that. Not at all.’

Asked if he had been tipped off about getting a seat in the House of Lords, he replied: ‘No conversations, no nods, no winks, nothing.

‘I gave the money just for Labour to win the election. I’ve already said I don’t want anything in return.’

Last night, Mr Vince claimed the freebies row engulfing Labour made it impossible for Sir Keir to award honours to financial backers such as himself. He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘Anyone who thinks that’s remotely possible isn’t ­reading the news right now.

Sir Keir admitted that he was not forcing his ministers to repay the cost of freebies

Mr Vince claimed the freebies row engulfing Labour made it impossible for Sir Keir to award honours to financial backers such as himself

‘Have you seen where Labour and Keir are in terms of scandals – or just gifts from donors? I mean come on, read the room.’

The Telegraph also reported that Lord Alli laid on hospitality for Labour more than 20 times in the year running up to the election.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir admitted that he was not forcing his ministers to repay the cost of freebies.

He said: ‘We are going to draw up some principles so that ­everyone can see the basis on which donations et cetera are being accepted.

‘I decided to repay so that any future activities, of me or ­anybody else, are in ­accordance with whatever the new principles are.

‘That is my personal ­decision, I am not saying ­others should do the same.’