Why is Keir Starmer under pressure over freebies?

In opposition, Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly accused the last Conservative government of cronyism, from its handling of contracts for personal protective equipment during the pandemic to renovations of the flat in Downing Street.

But just two months into government, the Labour prime minister and some of his most senior colleagues have been accused of failing to declare freebies — including clothing and a trip abroad — in the most transparent way.

Why are gifts to Starmer in the spotlight? 

Starmer accepted £76,000 worth of entertainment, clothes and similar freebies from UK donors in the last parliament, more than any other MP.

The most generous benefit disclosed was £16,200 of “work clothing” and £2,485 of spectacles from Lord Waheed Alli, a Labour peer and former chair of online clothing retailer Asos.

Critics have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest following reports that Alli helped advise Sue Gray, Starmer’s chief of staff, on potential government appointments before the general election. Later he was given a temporary Downing Street pass, despite holding no formal government role.

The row intensified this month when it was reported that Starmer’s wife, Victoria, had received £5,000 of clothing from Alli that had not been initially declared in the register of MPs’ interests. 

Starmer fully declared that he had taken £20,437 of “accommodation” from Alli during the election campaign, which he has since said was used by his son for the period of his GCSE exams.

The stay was from May 29 until July 13 but the GCSE season had ended by June 19, raising questions over how necessary the accommodation was.

On Thursday, Starmer said explicitly that he had not ever discussed policy with Alli, and that the donor had not been involved in drawing up lists of appointments for the Labour administration. 

What about gifts to his allies?

Days later the Financial Times reported that deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and chancellor Rachel Reeves took thousands of pounds of work clothing from rich donors that was declared as generic support for their work. In Rayner’s case, the donor was Alli.

Starmer originally declared his £16,200 of clothing in a similarly opaque way in the parliamentary register in April, but updated the entry to “clothes” a month later after being told to by officials.

Meanwhile Rayner declared that she took a £1,250 five-day trip to stay in Alli’s Manhattan apartment over the new year, but did not declare that her friend Sam Tarry, who was a Labour MP until May 2024, also stayed in the flat.

The Conservatives have suggested that a five-day luxury stay in such a central location in New York should cost at least £5,000.

What has the reaction been?

Rayner has said she understands “people are upset” over the row, and has promised along with Starmer and Reeves to accept no more donations of clothing.

But the Conservatives have written to Daniel Greenberg, parliamentary standards commissioner, asking him to probe a “potential failure to meet the Commons rules” in several ways.

The commissioner has already cleared Victoria Starmer’s acceptance of £5,000 of clothing. Starmer had sought clarity over the gift, and revised the entry in the register of interest, days before journalists approached Downing Street. Greenberg has also signalled to Reeves’s team that she declared her gift properly, according to Labour.  

The Conservatives also asked the commissioner to examine Rayner’s New York trip and the clothing she accepted. The register rules state that the nature of any “in kind” donations, such as the £3,550 of clothing given by Alli to Rayner, should be clearly stated. 

Rayner believes that she went beyond the rules by declaring the Manhattan stay at all given it was “unrelated to House membership, parliamentary or political activities” and only filled in the register because of Alli’s wider donations to her political activities.

Some Labour figures have asked why it was not the responsibility of Tarry, as an MP at the time, to fill in the register of interests. They also noted that his presence in the apartment would not have incurred any obvious extra costs.

Tarry said: “Throughout my full term as the Labour MP for Ilford South, I fully complied with the House of Commons rules and regulations in relation to the register of members’ interests.”

What happens next?

Starmer has promised to take no more clothing but retains the use of a box provided by Arsenal football club, which he says he needs for security reasons to continue taking his son to matches.

Even if none of the gifts is found to have breached the rules, they still carry political risk for Labour. “It seems politically naive,” said former Tory chancellor George Osborne.

One minister said: “It reminds me of the 2010 expenses scandal where, yes, some people went to prison, but there were also loads of MPs who didn’t break the law but still got castigated because it didn’t pass the public ‘sniff test’.”

Some Labour figures suggest Alli’s position as the party’s chief fundraiser is unsustainable given the questions about his influence. 

Other politicians have taken free clothing before. Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader, accepted a £1,500 suit from donor Richard Duncalf via money given to party headquarters in December 2020. 

In future it seems likely that Labour could adopt the model used by the Tory party, which in the past has given clothing allowances to politicians from its central funds.

However, the furore did not prevent the prime minister from making a joke about the donations or suggestions he tried to pass off Alli’s penthouse suite as his own home when meeting business leaders in New York on Thursday.

Starmer met executives at the residence of the Consul General of New York Hannah Young, in a large state room with a broad view across the East River, and told them: “I’d like to pretend this is my apartment to welcome you to, but I can’t, because Hannah’s already nabbed it.”