Keir Starmer Defends Clothing Gifts Amid Row Over Labour Donor

(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his handling of gifts from a key Labour donor as he sought to take the edge off a controversy that has cast a shadow over his early period in office.

Starmer faces a potential parliamentary investigation after the Sunday Times reported he initially failed to declare that Waheed Ali, a member of the House of Lords, paid for a personal shopper, designer garments and alterations for his wife, Victoria. But the premier told reporters traveling with him to Italy on Monday that he is “very consistent with following the rules.”

“My team, soon after the election, sought advice on what to do from the relevant authorities, and then had to seek further advice, which is what led to the declaration,” Starmer told reporters in Rome after meeting Italian premier Giorgia Meloni on Monday. “Wherever there are gifts from anyone, I’m going to comply with rules.”

Starmer is trying to draw a line under negative press surrounding Alli’s role in Labour’s early days in government. The premier has already come under pressure to explain why the TV mogul, who was named Labour’s chair of general election fund-raising in 2022, was given a 10 Downing Street security pass and also advised on public appointments, as revealed last week by Bloomberg. 

Moreover, the prime minister’s failure Monday to rule out accepting further gifts from Alli opens him up to fresh accusations of hypocrisy from opposition politicians and the British media, given the Labour leader spent much of his time in opposition criticizing the former Conservative administration over its record on ethics and propriety.

Starmer said the current framework regulating how MPs receive and declare gifts is “good.”

“I asked my team to make sure we’re complying with the framework, which is why they reached out for advice on what to do in this situation,” he said. “When they got further advice they made the declaration. And I think it’s really important everybody else follows the rules.”

The prime minister also sought to justify receiving gifts of tickets to football matches on security grounds, alluding to his “massive” fan of the north London team Arsenal. 

“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,” Starmer said. “Never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far,” he said, without explaining why he couldn’t pay for a hospitality ticket himself.

The prime minister’s gifts declarations while in opposition show him receiving gifts of tickets to watch Arsenal play at clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City, north London rivals Tottenham, West Ham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The controversy over the Alli donations has coincided with a decline in Starmer’s approval ratings since winning the election, as he’s also faced blow-back over removing winter fuel payments from some pensioners and been accused of painting an overly pessimistic picture of Britain’s economic outlook and prospects.

Alli — a co-creator of the Survivor television franchise appointed to the Lords by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998 — has both helped Labour raise a record amount of funds and supported its politicians with his own money. 

He has provided tens of thousands of pounds to subsidize the offices of Labour officials while they were in opposition, including giving Starmer £16,200 ($21,400) for “work clothing” in April and allowing Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to use a New York apartment for a “personal holiday” around New Year’s Eve.

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