Keir Starmer's $145k in gifts raises eyebrows amid new leadership
Keir Starmer has accepted gifts worth a total of $145,000 over the past five years, including $27,000 since July, when he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. According to Sky News, which analyzed the parliamentary register of interests, this is more than any other MP.
While MPs accepting gifts, if properly declared, is not against the law, the scale in Starmer's case is noteworthy, Sky News notes.
The value of the gifts he has received since December 2019, when the previous parliamentary term began, is $145,000. This amount is 2.5 times greater than the value of gifts received by the second-placed Labour MP, Lucy Powell, and more than the total value of gifts received by Powell and the following two MPs on the list combined.
From tickets to clothing collections
The list of gifts reported by Starmer includes, among other things, VIP tickets to soccer matches and other sporting events, Taylor Swift concert tickets, hotel accommodations, dinners, and clothing. The soccer match tickets alone are worth over $50,000. As noted by Sky News, some of these could pose a conflict of interest, as tickets worth more than $17,000 were given to him by the Premier League authorities. The Premier League is currently opposing the establishment of a football regulatory body in England, which the Labour government plans.
Sky News reminded that ministers are usually advised to avoid accepting gifts from any organization involved in current regulatory decisions. It also revealed that Starmer, while leading the opposition, ignored warnings from some team members about accepting gifts. They feared this might cause him political damage, but Starmer argued it was within the rules.
Prime minister's political trouble
Though in line with the rules, the matter may nonetheless be politically tricky. At the end of August, Starmer warned that before the state's foundations can be repaired after the previous government, Britons will face tough times, and the budget presented on October 30 will be painful. Last week's decision to strip nearly 10 million retirees of the universal right to state-funded heating subsidies in winter, limiting this right only to the poorest among them, is a sign of the painful decisions to come.
Starmer became Prime Minister at the beginning of July this year after the Labour Party he has led since 2020 achieved a sweeping victory in the House of Commons elections.
