Gifts to Prime Minister Kier Starmer sky-rocketed from £900 to over £100,000 as he was lavished with hospitality ahead of his election victory, analysis by the Express has shown.
Keir Starmer’s appearance at the Euro 2020 final sparked a spree of hospitality gifts being accepted (Image: Getty)
Delving into the Parliamentary archives for members’ financial interests shows that in the North London politician’s early days as an MP his trips were infrequent and fairly modest.
From 2015 to his run for the Labour leadership four years later, the only two trips of note were a visit to Taiwan to meet political leaders and an evening in Leeds for the Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards.
By the time he became leader of the opposition in 2020, his all-time total for gifts received was barely £1,000.
However, once he’d taken the hot seat and Covid lockdown restrictions were relaxed, the hospitality enjoyed by Starmer multiplied considerably.
In the summer of 2021, he was in the posh seats for the final of the European Championships at Wembley and the Challenge Cup Final at Old Trafford, as well as being treated to corporate boxes for his local teams Arsenal and Saracens’ games.
Five holidays, eight Premier League matches, two Coldplay gigs and one sold-out Talyor Swift concert later the total value of gifts he’s declared is 100 times higher than it was three years ago at £102,120.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, meanwhile, hadn’t accepted a single gift in her Parliamentary career until the start of last year when she started being given theatre tickets worth hundreds of pounds.
By the summer of 2023, the then shadow Chancellor was taking two guests to Wimbledon and tickets to the Proms.
Rachel Reeves had not accepted any gifts until January 2023 (Image: Reach Data Unit)
Although her total is dwarfed considerably by Starmer in the past year the gifts accepted by Reeves have still gone from £220 to £13,873.
Angela Rayner’s gifts are the most modest of arguably the three biggest names on the Labour front bench. She has accepted a mere £2,176 with tickets to festival Parklife in Manchester near her constituency making up a sizable portion of the hospitality the Labour deputy leader has enjoyed.
MPs have been under greater scrutiny over the freebies they accepted after it was revealed Sir Keir Starmer accepted £35,000 worth of tickets from football clubs and other politicians were gifted tickets to sold-out events like Taylor Swift’s summer tour.
Both parliamentarians and those seeking to influence them with hospitality have been forced to defend the gifts. Starmer claimed he has “done nothing wrong” by accepting the freebies and last week the Premier League said spending £8,500 to take five Labour MPs to the Brit Awards “is normal practice.”
English football’s most powerful body was forced to explain itself after Express analysis of The Register of Members’ Interests showed that, as politicians debated whether top-flight soccer in England required an independent regulator, the most affected organisation was treating them to a night out where they got to enjoy performances by Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa and Kylie Minogue.
The gifts accepted by Labour’s biggest names has sky-rocketed as power beckoned (Image: Reach Data unit).
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New UK tipping law for pubs, hairdressers and restaurants comes into effect October 1
Restaurants, along with businesses like taxi services, hair salons, hotels, pubs, and cafes, may need to raise their prices to adjust to a new tip-sharing law that takes effect this Tuesday (October 1).
A new UK tipping law for pubs, hairdressers and restaurants comes into effect October 1 (Image: Getty)
Under the new regulations, these establishments will be prohibited from withholding any tips or service charges left by customers, whether those payments are made in cash or by card.
The legislation aims to enhance the income of approximately 2 million waiting staff and other hospitality employees.
The government is set to introduce the law on Tuesday, more than eight years since the initial proposal of a ban.
Kate Nicholls, the CEO of UK Hospitality, has said that businesses have “been gradually getting ready for this” and are moving towards adopting a code of best practice endorsed by unions, reports MyLondon.
The legislation aims to enhance the income of approximately 2 million waiting staff (Image: Getty)
Saxon Moseley, head of leisure and hospitality at consultancy RSM, warned that businesses who have been using the service charge to pay staff or offset their wage bill will still need to pay their staff, but won’t be able to use this cash fund.
He said: “And in that scenario, margins will be hit, in some cases fairly drastically.”
Michael Powner, employment partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, highlighted that reaching an agreement is often challenging and has voiced his concerns about the changes under the new Labour Party government.
He advised: “Employers need to ensure that what is agreed is ‘fair’ and that there is rational reasoning in place while avoiding any potentially discriminatory rules.”
Bryan Simpson, who organises hospitality staff for the Unite union, has also spoken out on the matter, reports Birmingham Live.
He highlighted that some are “deliberately misinterpreting the new fair tips legislation to suit business needs rather than the workers”.
He added: “We will be doing everything in our power industrially, politically and legally to ensure that any unfair tipping policy is challenged.”
