On Thursday, Britain's Keir Starmer faced increasing scrutiny as an analysis revealed he has received over £100,000 ($132,000) in gifts and hospitality since December 2019—more than any other lawmaker. Despite the gifts being declared and not violating parliamentary rules, the revelations come at a sensitive time when his government is urging Britons to endure short-term financial 'pain for long-term good'. Most notably, Labour plans to slash winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, leaving some £300 (nearly $400) worse off. However, widespread opposition to this move, including from within his own party, has been exacerbated by questions about the gifts both he and his wife Victoria have received.
Initially, Starmer admitted that Victoria, who recently attended a London Fashion Week show, accepted clothes worth £5,000 from Labour donor Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and member of the House of Lords. Alli has also donated tens of thousands of pounds worth of clothing, accommodation, and 'multiple pairs' of spectacles to the prime minister himself. Media have dubbed the controversy 'passes for glasses' after it was disclosed that Alli had a temporary Downing Street security pass despite not having a government role. Additionally, this week it was revealed that Starmer's influential chief of staff, Sue Gray, who led an inquiry into Covid lockdown-breaking parties by the Tories at Downing Street, now earns £170,000 a year. Starmer, who became Labour leader in early 2020, earns about £167,000.
The steady stream of details about gifts and high pay has fueled accusations of hypocrisy from the opposition Conservative party at a time when the government is asking ordinary people to tighten their belts. Since December 2019, Starmer has received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality, according to an analysis by broadcaster Sky News and the Tortoise Media news website. Among the £40,000 worth of hospitality were Taylor Swift tickets worth £4,000 and Premier League football tickets worth £12,000. Starmer, an avid Arsenal fan, defended accepting the gifts this week, stating he could not attend football matches and watch from the stands for security reasons. According to ITV News, Starmer has been given the use of a corporate box by Arsenal, which would normally cost £8,750 per game.
Starmer has acknowledged that the winter fuel payment cut is 'unpopular' but insists 'tough choices' are necessary to help close a £22 billion ($29 billion) 'black hole' in the public finances that Labour claims they inherited from the Conservatives. Last month, he also warned that the government's Budget in late October—Labour's first since it was last in power 14 years ago—would be 'painful'. The freebies have generated a series of negative headlines less than three months after Labour was elected with a thumping majority and on a promise to rebuild trust in politicians and public service. The party's annual conference opens on Sunday.
'King of the Cadgers,' read the Daily Star tabloid's front page headline on Thursday, using the British slang term for 'freeloaders', while even the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror was critical. On Wednesday, it wrote that while nearly 'two million Brits can't afford to turn on the heating this winter and pensioners are being forced to go without, Keir Starmer keeps getting the government further into a political hole'.
