Starmer repays more than £6,000 in gifts after donations row

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality received since becoming prime minister, following a backlash over donations.

The prime minister is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four tickets to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Starmer.

It comes after Sir Keir and other cabinet ministers have faced weeks of criticism for accepting freebies from wealthy donors.

The prime minister said it was "right" for him to repay the cost of some gifts.

Sir Keir was asked about the donations during a trip to Brussels for talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The prime minister said his government would bring forward new principles for donations "as until now politicians have used their best individual judgement to decide".

"I took the decision that until those principles were in place it was right to repay these particular payments," he said.

Sir Keir has committed to tightening the rules around ministerial hospitality and gifts to improve transparency.

Earlier, a Downing Street spokesperson confirmed that the ministerial code will be updated and will include "a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality" commissioned by Sir Keir.

MPs are allowed to accept gifts from donors but have to declare these on the register of MPs’ interests.

The media storm over donations to ministers has dogged Sir Keir’s government since Labour won its landslide general election victory in July.

The freebies have come to light after the role of Lord Alli - who has donated clothes and accommodation to Labour MPs and was given a temporary Downing Street security pass - came under scrutiny.

The Labour peer donated more than £32,000 worth of clothing and spectacles to Sir Keir when he was leader of the opposition, which he has not paid back.

Sir Keir has insisted no rules have been broken but has said he will not accept donations of clothing as prime minister.

Sarah Jones, a business minister, said she was looking into whether she can pay back a Proms ticket, given as hospitality by the BBC.

Asked whether other cabinet ministers should follow the prime minister's example, Jones told ITV's Good Morning Britain "it's for people to look at this individually".

The details of the donations Sir Keir paid back have been published in the latest register of interests for MPs on Wednesday.

All of the gifts were received between the 17 August and 15 September, since Sir Keir became prime minister.

The gifts he has paid for include four Taylor Swift tickets from Universal Music Group worth £2,800, two from the Football Association at a cost of £598, and four to Doncaster Races from Arena Racing Corporation at £1,939.

An £839 clothing rental agreement with Edeline Lee, the designer recently worn by his wife to London Fashion Week, along with one hour of hair care and makeup, was also covered by the prime minister.

But Sir Keir is not paying back the cost of four tickets for a Taylor Swift concert he attended during the general election campaign in June.

In his declaration of interests, Sir Keir also says he remains "a paid season ticket holder at Arsenal but, given security advice, the club has said it will find seats for my son and I in the directors’ box whenever practicable".

The PM has said security concerns and police protection mean he cannot watch Arsenal games from the stands at the Emirates Stadium in London.

Sir Keir has also accepted a further £6,134 in "clothing and personal support" for Lady Starmer in June, from Lord Alli.

It comes as Parliament's standards watchdog said Lord Alli was being investigated over allegedly failing to register interests, after a complaint was made last week about the Labour donor.

The BBC understands the investigation relates to a clerical element of already declared interests.

A Labour spokesperson said: "Lord Alli will cooperate fully with the Lords’ Commissioner and he is confident all interests have been registered. We cannot comment further while this is ongoing."

A Conservative Party spokesperson said Sir Keir "will only be transparent when his back's against the wall".

The party said Wednesday's announcement did not explain why the prime minister accepted the donations in the first place and questioned why other senior party members had not paid back their gifts and hospitality.

The latest declarations for Conservative MPs showed those bidding for their party’s leadership had accepted tens of thousands of pounds worth of donations.

Tom Tugendhat declared the most - more than £152,000 - followed by Robert Jenrick, who received £134,376 of new donations.

The remaining two contenders, James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch, received £89,000 and £40,000 respectively to support their campaigns.

Other interests added to the register on Wednesday included:

• £836 in hospitality, listed as a "visit to (a) DJ booth" by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, related to a trip to a nightclub where she was filmed dancing over the summer.

• £2,300 worth of hospitality from Tottenham Hotspur FC accepted by Foreign Secretary David Lammy to watch the north London derby in September

• £1,660 worth of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert at Wembley Stadium accepted from the Premier League by Liam Conlon, Labour MP and son of Sir Keir's chief of staff, Sue Gray, in August