‘Done nothing wrong’: UK PM Starmer on row over accepting freebies
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has found himself at the center of a controversy over accepting donations from a wealthy businessman and the high salary of his chief of staff.
However, the prime minister denies any wrongdoing related to the thousands of pounds worth of clothing and eyewear paid for by Waheed Alli, a longtime Labour Party donor and media entrepreneur.
The amount of freebies received by Starmer has surprised even his supporters, with the total value of declared “gifts, benefits and hospitality” exceeding 100,000 pounds since December 2019, according to Sky News. This amount surpasses that of any other lawmaker during the same period.
Among the donations received are high-value tickets to Premier League matches featuring the leader’s favorite team, Arsenal. Starmer, during a recent trip to Rome, expressed his deep passion for the club.
“I’m a massive Arsenal fan. I can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore, if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality I can’t go to a game. You could say, ‘Well bad luck.’ … But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far,” Starmer told reporters.
Lawmakers are permitted to accept gifts but must declare donations and extra-parliamentary income within 28 days. Starmer missed the four-week deadline to declare the donations of clothing and a personal shopper for his wife from Alli, citing that the delay was due to his staff seeking advice on what needed to be declared.
“I’m very consistent with following the rules,” Starmer said this week. Additionally. he rejected suggestions that prime ministers should get a wardrobe budget, saying taxpayers should not have to pay for politicians’ clothes.
Additionally, there are concerns among Starmer’s staff regarding the salary of Sue Gray, his chief of staff. According to the BBC, Gray earns 170,000 pounds ($225,000) per year, which is approximately 3,000 pounds more than the prime minister’s salary. However, the government stated that it did not interfere in setting the pay scale for political advisers, which has been increased since the election.
“The pay bands for any official, any adviser, are not set by politicians. There’s an official process that does that,” business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Thursday.
Recently, British media has been filled with mostly anonymous complaints from government officials about Gray, a former senior civil servant known for leading the investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gray’s findings contributed to the downfall of Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and her subsequent move to work for Starmer led the Conservatives to claim that the “partygate” probe was politically biased, which Gray denies.
Meanwhile, Labour claims that the leak of Gray’s salary and the donation revelations, dubbed “frockgate” by the press due to the dresses purchased for the prime minister’s wife, Victoria Starmer, are being exaggerated by the Conservatives and their media supporters to tarnish the government.
However, the prime minister denies any wrongdoing related to the thousands of pounds worth of clothing and eyewear paid for by Waheed Alli, a longtime Labour Party donor and media entrepreneur.
The amount of freebies received by Starmer has surprised even his supporters, with the total value of declared “gifts, benefits and hospitality” exceeding 100,000 pounds since December 2019, according to Sky News. This amount surpasses that of any other lawmaker during the same period.
Among the donations received are high-value tickets to Premier League matches featuring the leader’s favorite team, Arsenal. Starmer, during a recent trip to Rome, expressed his deep passion for the club.
“I’m a massive Arsenal fan. I can’t go into the stands because of security reasons. Therefore, if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality I can’t go to a game. You could say, ‘Well bad luck.’ … But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far,” Starmer told reporters.
Lawmakers are permitted to accept gifts but must declare donations and extra-parliamentary income within 28 days. Starmer missed the four-week deadline to declare the donations of clothing and a personal shopper for his wife from Alli, citing that the delay was due to his staff seeking advice on what needed to be declared.
“I’m very consistent with following the rules,” Starmer said this week. Additionally. he rejected suggestions that prime ministers should get a wardrobe budget, saying taxpayers should not have to pay for politicians’ clothes.
Additionally, there are concerns among Starmer’s staff regarding the salary of Sue Gray, his chief of staff. According to the BBC, Gray earns 170,000 pounds ($225,000) per year, which is approximately 3,000 pounds more than the prime minister’s salary. However, the government stated that it did not interfere in setting the pay scale for political advisers, which has been increased since the election.
“The pay bands for any official, any adviser, are not set by politicians. There’s an official process that does that,” business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Thursday.
Recently, British media has been filled with mostly anonymous complaints from government officials about Gray, a former senior civil servant known for leading the investigation into lockdown-breaching parties in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gray’s findings contributed to the downfall of Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and her subsequent move to work for Starmer led the Conservatives to claim that the “partygate” probe was politically biased, which Gray denies.
Meanwhile, Labour claims that the leak of Gray’s salary and the donation revelations, dubbed “frockgate” by the press due to the dresses purchased for the prime minister’s wife, Victoria Starmer, are being exaggerated by the Conservatives and their media supporters to tarnish the government.
