Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received after becoming Prime Minister.
The PM, who has been embroiled in a freebies row, is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Victoria.
Mr Starmer said it was “right” for him to repay the donations while new rules for ministers accepting gifts were drawn up. “We came in as a government of change,” he told a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
“We are now going to bring forward principles for donations, because, until now, politicians have used their best individual judgement on a case-by-case basis. I think we need some principles of general application. So, I took the decision that until the principles are in place it was right for me to make those repayments.”
Keir Starmer was criticised after he accepted thousands of pounds worth of donations for himself and his wife for clothes (
Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
The PM has now paid back all the gifts he received since entering No10, bar £1,920 for tickets and hospitality to two Arsenal matches. The gifts were received over August and September.
Mr Starmer has previously defended his decision to accept corporate hospitality, explaining that he cannot go in the stands at Arsenal for security reasons. The PM, who has an Arsenal season ticket holder for years, said: “The club have made arrangements for me to watch from elsewhere, it’s as simple as that.”
It comes after Mr Starmer and other Cabinet members – who vowed to “clean up” British politics – faced weeks of criticism for accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.