Criticized for having accepted more than 120,000 euros in gifts in five years, the head of the British government announced this Wednesday, October 2, that he had reimbursed several of them, for an amount of 7,200 euros.
Keir Starmer won’t go see Taylor Swift (at least not for free). The British Prime Minister, criticized for having accepted gifts from generous donors, has decided to finally pay for several of them, including concert tickets from the famous American singer, his services announced this Wednesday, October 2. This decision comes after several weeks of controversy targeting the Labor leader and several of his ministers. At issue: press reports according to which Keir Starmer has received more than 107,145 pounds (or 127,278 euros) in gifts since December 2019. For the moment, he has only repaid part, equivalent to 6,000 pounds (7,200 euros).
These gifts, which are legal and declared in Parliament’s register, were received by Keir Starmer while he was leader of the opposition but also since his arrival at Downing Street, after the victory of the Labor party in the general elections in early July. . In its press release, Downing Street indicates that the Prime Minister is committed to reviewing the rules surrounding the receipt of these gifts and invitations.
Horse racing and high-end clothing
In addition to several tickets to see Taylor Swift, the amount reimbursed corresponds to four horse racing tickets as well as the rental contract for high-end clothing from his wife, Victoria Starmer. On the other hand, he does not plan to return the two tickets to attend the matches of the Tottenham and Arsenal teams (2000 pounds in total), arguing the need for him to attend from the boxes, for reasons of security.
The politician was accused of showing “hypocrisy” by Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch, candidate to become leader of the Tories. While in opposition, Starmer often criticized his predecessors for being out of touch with the people. Its main donor, Waheed Alli, a multimillionaire Labor member of the House of Lords, is under parliamentary investigation. The upper house of Parliament is trying to shed light on potential violations of parliamentary rules in the context of these gifts and invitations.
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