Labour donations 'levelled the playing field' says minister

Douglas Alexander (centre) said a donor donated to the Paisley South Labour group

A Scottish Labour MP has said donations made to the party were an attempt to "level the playing field" between Labour and opposition parties.

Trade minister Douglas Alexander said the stories about free gifts for Labour figures were "not the headlines we would have chosen" as the party holds its first conference since returning to government.

Sir Keir Starmer and senior Labour figures have been criticised for accepting gifts including clothing from Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli.

SNP MP Dave Doogan said the prime minister's actions were "totally indefensible".

It emerged last week that media mogul Lord Alli, a long-time Labour supporter who was made a life peer by Tony Blair in 1998, had gifted clothing to the prime minister and his wife.

It has also emerged that, after Labour came to power, Lord Alli had been given a temporary Downing Street security pass despite having no formal government role.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves also accepted donations from donor Juliet Rosenfeld, which were used to pay for clothing.

It has been announced that senior figures including Ms Reeves, Sir Keir and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner will no longer accept such donations.

Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme, Alexander said he welcomed the fact Lord Alli had donated to the Labour Party.

"There is absolutely no suggestion that he is looking for something in return other than what he has dedicated many years of his life to achieving, which is to get a Labour government," he said.

He added that Lord Alli had made the donations "to try and level the playing field in circumstances" between Labour and other parties.

The Lothian East MP continued: "We exist to try and improve people’s lives and opportunities and if that means accepting support from donors who have been longstanding Labour supporters for many, many years, then actually I make no apology for the fact that Keir Starmer has made the Labour party competitive again."

Mr Alexander added that Lord Alli had donated to his former constitiuency party in Paisley South but he had not received any money from him "personally or politically in recent years".

SNP MP Dave Doogan hit out at the prime minister's decision to accept clothing donations

SNP MP Dave Doogan said people would be "aghast at the naivety of UK government ministers leaving themselves open to whatever the donors of these gifts expect in return".

"People wanted change, they wanted rid of this kind of sleazy behaviour within the Westminster bubble, but within Labour they’ve found it's been turbocharged," he told Good Morning Scotland.

He added: "Let's be really clear, Angela Rayner in particular, and Keir Starmer especially - these are not poor people.

"If Keir Starmer wanted £2,500 worth of glasses, he could have easily bought them.

"But he didn't. He took it off somebody who was offering it to him, and that's not the world that the rest of us walk in."

The fallout continues to dominate headlines as the party holds its first conference since forming a government in July.

Alexander said his party would use the event to move the agenda on.

"In the short-term these headlines matter, and they're not the headlines we would have chosen, I'm not going to pretend that," he said.

"In the longer term, the trend lines matter much more.

"Do we re-establish stability in the economy and in the public finances? Can we raise living standards?"

Speaking from the conference in Liverpool, he added: "The fact is we are going to, this week, hopefully move beyond some of the teething problems we've seen in recent days."