By Kylie MacLellan
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has declared more than 100,000 pounds ($132,500) in gifts, benefits and hospitality since December 2019, more than any other member of parliament, according to figures compiled by Sky News.
Starmer, who became Labour Party leader in April 2020 and won power at an election in July, has come under fire in the British media since it emerged he accepted thousands of pounds worth of clothes from a wealthy businessman.
He has said he followed all the necessary transparency rules on declaring gifts, but the figures are politically damaging at a time when his government is cutting financial help with paying energy bills for millions of pensioners.
Sky reported Starmer had accepted 107,145 pounds in gifts, benefits and hospitality, one of the categories in parliament’s register of interests, since the 2019 national election.
The next highest was House of Commons leader Lucy Powell at 40,289 pounds. It said legal fees were excluded from the totals.
Starmer’s gifts included 12,588 pounds worth of tickets from soccer’s Premier League, which is lobbying against the prime minister’s plans for a soccer regulator.
This comprised more than 6,000 pounds worth of tickets for Arsenal matches, his favourite team, 1,628 pounds worth of tickets to the Euro soccer finals and four tickets with hospitality for a Taylor Swift concert worth a total of 4,000 pounds.
Earlier this week he defended the right to accept hospitality gifts, saying that if he did not, he would not be able to go to a soccer match.
($1 = 0.7547 pound)
