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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
Sir Keir Starmer has defended accepting £76,000 value of free tickets and garments over the past parliament, saying a big chunk of it was from soccer video games outdoors London the place his safety groups didn’t need him sitting within the stands.
The Monetary Instances revealed the £76,000 determine on Monday, together with £16,200 of “work clothes” provided by Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli, former chair of on-line vogue retailer Asos.
Starmer, a diehard fan of Arsenal soccer membership, informed journalists in Derbyshire on Tuesday that he declared all the items he had taken whereas he was an MP within the Home of Commons register of pursuits.
“Numerous that was Arsenal hospitality and significantly away video games the place you may respect my need to go within the stands isn’t at all times met with approval by the safety groups round me,” he stated. “It implies that I’m in company hospitality if I need to see the sport.”
About £23,000 of the declared items had been tickets to Arsenal away matches, which had been the most typical class of things Starmer obtained, based on the FT’s analysis.
He additionally accepted a ticket to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Video games, a rugby match at Saracens and two tickets to the royal field at Wimbledon.
Different junkets loved by Starmer have included concert events, akin to Adele at Hyde Park. In June 2023, Starmer took 4 hospitality tickets value £698 to see Coldplay on the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, earlier than staying at a lodge because of a donation from entrepreneur Matthew Moulding value £937.
The earlier August Starmer, who’s married with two youngsters, accepted lodging for 4 folks on the scenic Gower peninsula in Wales value £4,500 as a present from Crownhawk Properties, an organization based by Welsh entrepreneur Rod Lloyd.
MPs should declare items, advantages and hospitality from UK sources to the Home of Commons register of pursuits. The advantages part of the register teams collectively items, akin to tickets, with different classes of expense. It excludes worldwide journey.
The MP who got here closest to Starmer when it comes to leisure advantages was Laurence Robertson, a Tory MP who obtained greater than £40,000 in days out from the racing and betting industries since 2019. The Betting and Gaming Council, for which Robertson has additionally labored, threw him a £2,300 reception to mark his birthday.
