Starmer suggests he’ll proceed accepting presents from Labour donor | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Sir Keir Starmer has defended accepting presents from a millionaire Labour donor who was later given a go to entry No 10 Downing Street.

The Prime Minister advised he would proceed to take presents from Lord Alli regardless of a row over a few of his donations not being declared in keeping with parliamentary guidelines.

Asked on Monday whether or not he would proceed to just accept presents from Lord Alli, Sir Keir stated that “all Members of Parliament get gifts” and “the important thing is that they’re declared in accordance with the rules”.

The Labour peer has given Sir Keir tens of 1000’s of kilos to spend on fits and spectacles, and over the weekend it emerged that Lady Starmer, the Prime Minister’s spouse, had additionally been given £5,000 price of garments and private procuring.

MPs are speculated to declare presents and donations to the parliamentary authorities inside 28 days of receiving them. They need to declare “any interest which someone might reasonably consider to influence their actions or words as an MP”, and the declarations are then printed on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

However, the Prime Minister declared the presents to his spouse, thought to have been acquired each earlier than and after he entered Downing Street, solely final week after initially believing that they didn’t must be added to the register.

The Conservatives have written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to name for an investigation into the failure to declare donations.

On Monday, Sir Keir dodged a number of questions on whether or not he would proceed taking handouts from Lord Alli, pledging solely to “comply with the rules”.

He stated it will be “pushing it a bit far” to disclaim him the precise to just accept Arsenal tickets, as he couldn’t sit in his traditional seat for safety causes.

Sir Keir accepted greater than 20 free tickets to soccer matches within the final Parliament, in response to figures launched in July, utilizing complimentary seats to observe Arsenal play Manchester United, Manchester City and Porto.

Sir Keir stated on Monday: “All Members of Parliament get gifts. The rules then say that over a certain value you’ve got to declare the gifts, so everybody can see what it was, how much it was, who it came from, and so that you and others can ask questions about it. That’s a good framework. It’s the right framework.”

Asked whether or not he thought he had achieved nothing mistaken, and whether or not he would proceed taking these types of donations, he stated: “The problem is, let’s take football as an example. 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. That’s why gifts have to be registered. But you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”

Asked once more whether or not he would proceed to just accept presents from Lord Alli, he stated: “Well, wherever there are gifts from anyone I’m going to comply with the rules… Look, there are gifts to all MPs of different sizes and shapes. The important thing is that they’re declared in accordance with the rules.”

Asked whether or not an anti-corruption advisor can be appointed, he went on: “Well, there’s a massive difference between declarations and corruption. Declarations are about declaring properly so that you and others can see properly made declarations.”