✕
Close
Your support helps us to tell the story
Support NowMy recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since the election, after the row over ministerial donations, it’s been revealed.
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 Victoria Starmer.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code. Ahead of the publication of the new code, the prime minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members’ interests.”
Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli is under investigation over alleged non-registration of interests that could lead to a possible breach of the members’ code of conduct.
The fashion mogul, who has been at the centre of the row over donations accepted by Sir Keir Starmer, is being probed by the Lords’ commissioner.
Meanwhile, James Cleverly issued an apology to Tory members following the party’s brutal election defeat in July, urging the party to avoid complacency, warning against “wallowing in self-pity”.
Key Points
- Starmer repays £6,000 worth of gifts after freebies row
- Lord Alli under investigation over ‘alleged non-registration of interests'
- Starmer vows to put UK-EU relationship back on ‘stable, positive footing'
- Jenrick vows to leave ECHR ‘to finish Brexit'
- James Cleverly apologises for bruising election defeat
Sadiq Khan vows to lobby Labour ministers for new transport links in London
Sadiq Khan will pledge to lobby Labour ministers for investment in new transport projects in London costing billions of pounds.
The capital’s mayor will make the commitment in a speech on Wednesday night, in which he will declare that “when London builds, Britain benefits”.
Mr Khan wants to secure funding to extend the Bakerloo Tube line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham.
A Transport for London document published in February stated that the estimated cost of the project would be between £5 billion and £8 billion.
The mayor will seek investment for a new rail service named the West London Orbital on existing lines in west London.
The most recent published capital cost estimate of the scheme was £273 million in 2017/18 prices.
Mr Khan wants funding for extending the Docklands Light Railway from Gallions Reach to Thamesmead, which has previously been expected to cost around £1.7 billion.
He will also attempt to secure a long-term funding packages for TfL, after the previous Conservative government only issued short-term deals.
Watch: Starmer quizzed on timing of gifts repayment
COMMENT | Want a ‘reset’ with the EU, PM? Here’s how you could pull it off…
With Keir Starmer in Brussels to restore post-Brexit relationships with European leaders, Ian Bond suggests ‘low-key’ is the name of the game when it comes to influencing foreign policy:
Want a ‘reset’ with the EU, PM? Here’s how you could pull it off…
With Keir Starmer in Brussels to restore post-Brexit relationships with European leaders, Ian Bond suggests ‘low-key’ is the name of the game when it comes to influencing foreign policy
Salma Ouaguira2 October 2024 17:30 1727886523Starmer defends repaying £6,000 of gifts
Sir Keir Starmer said it was right for him to repay £6,000 of donations and repeated pledges to create rules around donations.
“Because until now, politicians have used their best individual judgment,” the prime minister said.
In Brussels after meeting Ursula von der Leyen, he said: “We came in as a government of change.
“We are now going to bring forward principles for donations, because, until now, politicians have used their best individual judgment on a case-by-case basis. I think we need some principles of general application.
“So, I took the position that until the principles are in place it was right for me to make those repayments.”
Sir Keir has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since the election, No 10 revealed earlier.
Jane Dalton2 October 2024 17:28 1727885727We’re putting relations with Europe on more solid footing, Starmer vows
Sir Keir Starmer says the UK is putting our relationship with Europe on a “more solid, stable footing”.
He told reporters he had agreed with resident of the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to hold regular UK-EU summits at leader level, starting with a summit in the first half of next year.
He said they had agreed that they could do more together in a few key areas, “in particular, promoting growth and prosperity, working together on shared challenges like climate change, energy security and illegal migration, and strengthening our shared security and stability”.
Jane Dalton2 October 2024 17:15 1727884807Pictured: Tom Tugendhat departs from Conservative Party conference
Starmer repays £6,000 worth of gifts after freebies row
Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since entering No 10 after a row over ministerial donations, it’s been revealed.
The prime minister is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.
Sir Keir and other cabinet members – who vowed to “clean up” British politics – have faced weeks of criticism for accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.
The prime minister has committed to overhauling hospitality rules for ministers to ensure better transparency about what is provided following the backlash.
On Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code.
“Ahead of the publication of the new code, the Prime Minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members’ interests.”
Jane Dalton2 October 2024 16:54 1727883007Starmer and von der Leyen working to ‘strengthened co-operation'
In a joint statement, Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to work “at pace” to take forward “an agenda of strengthened co-operation”.
The prime minister and European Commission president will meet again this autumn and there will be regular leader-level EU-UK summits, with the first expected in early 2025.
The joint statement said they “underlined their mutual commitment to the full and faithful implementation” of the existing post-Brexit agreements, and they “reaffirmed their mutual commitment to uphold international law and to the European Convention on Human Rights”.
It added: “They agreed a stable, positive and forward-looking relationship was in their mutual interests and provided the basis for long-term co-operation.
“They agreed to take forward this agenda of strengthened co-operation at pace over the coming months, starting with defining together the areas in which strengthened co-operation would be mutually beneficial, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience, in full respect of their internal procedures and institutional prerogatives.”
Salma Ouaguira2 October 2024 16:30 1727881207Home secretary to discuss small boat crossings at G7 meeting
Yvette Cooper is meeting G7 ministers in Italy to discuss “critical” cooperation with UK’s partners on migration.
The home secretary said the summit in Avellino represents an “invaluable opportunity to work internationally” to tacjle poeple smuggling.
Ahead of the meeting, she said: “The perpetrators of the vile trade of migrant smuggling have no concern about the security of national borders or the safety of the people they exploit.
“This is a global challenge and working in collaboration with our closest partners is critical.”
Salma Ouaguira2 October 2024 16:00 1727880007Kemi Badenoch suggests Treasury to blame for rise in immigration
Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has suggested the Treasury was to blame for the rise in immigration during the Conservatives’ time in power in her closing conference speech.
Ms Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat are all battling to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, and migration has been a central topic of discussion during the contest.
All the candidates got a chance to make a final pitch to the conference on Wednesday morning.
Ms Badenoch told delegates that in government, the Conservatives “did not always keep our promises”.
“We promised to lower taxes, they went up. We promised to lower immigration, it went up. Why? Because the Treasury said high immigration was good for the economy, but we knew it was not good for our country,” she said.
Migration – alongside the NHS and the future of the Conservative Party – has been one of the key discussion points of the contest.
Salma Ouaguira2 October 2024 15:40 Newer1 / 10OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
