Prime Minister Keir Starmer has come under fire from regional broadcasters over the amount of gifts and hospitality he has received.
The Sky News’ Westminster Accounts Project revealed that Starmer had received more hospitality than any other currently-sitting MP since 2019, with a total of £107,145.
In a series of broadcast interviews with local ITV stations, Starmer repeatedly defended his acceptance of hospitality and gifts from party donors and others, including the Premier League.
When asked about the optics of receiving hospitality, in particular to attend Arsenal football matches, by ITV London’s Simon Harris, the Prime Minister said: “The security advice is that I can’t go to the stands, or if I did, you’d have to go so much to the security and it would cost the taxpayer a fortune as a result.
“I’ve been offered tickets elsewhere in the ground where it’s more secure. We don’t have to use taxpayer money on additional security.
“I don’t think it’s fair, I don’t think I can impose that on the taxpayer, so I’ve taken up the offer to sit elsewhere in the stands so I can still see Arsenal play, because I’ve been going for many, many years to see them on a regular basis and I intend to continue to do so.”
Paris Gourtsoyannis of STV also grilled the Prime Minister on the subject, asking whether it was appropriate to take winter fuel payments from pensioners on £13,000 a year, while he “needs help buying your wardrobe” while earning £167,000 a year.
In response, Starmer said: “Let me tell you what I’m focused on. I was elected into government with a strong majority, a mandate to bring about change, and the change that I promised, that I’ll be judged on, is whether living standards have improved and people feel better off, whether our economy is growing in all parts of the country.”
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After a recent opinion poll showed a ten percent drop for Labour in Scotland from the general election result, Gourtsoyannis asked whether people north of the border would feel their lives had got better by the time of the Holyrood elections in 2026.
Starmer said that Anas Sarwar would make an excellent First Minister and said: “Scotland voted for change. That’s why we’ve got strong representation here in Westminster. I’m determined that that change will happen for Scotland and we will deliver it.”
When asked whether Angela Rayner would make a good Prime Minister by ITV Granada’s Lise McNally, Starmer said that, while he would not predict who the next leader of the Labour Party would be, the party should elect a female leader at some stage.
He said: “In the meantime, I intend to act on the mandate that we got in the last election, deliver the change that people want across the country, and it is fantastic to have Angela Ryaner by my side as Deputy Prime Minister, as we go through this together.
“We’re a very good team, I’ve got brilliant women around the cabinet, and we’re getting on with the job we were elected to do, which is to bring about the change that people are desperate to see.”
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