by Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria have accepted donations towards clothing because there are no taxpayer funds to cover UK leaders’ wardrobe costs, David Lammy said.
The Foreign Secretary said the couple accepted donations so they could “do their best” to represent the UK when other countries approved large, taxpayer-funded clothing budgets for their leaders.
The Prime Minister is alleged to have breached parliamentary rules by failing to declare his wife’s clothing donations within the designated time limit. The gifts, from prominent Labor donor Lord Alli, were not initially declared in MPs’ register of interests.
The Prime Minister contacted the parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after receiving updated advice on what needed to be registered, according to The Sunday Times.
The donations covered the cost of a personal shopper, clothes and alterations for Lady Starmer before and after Labour’s election victory in July.
The Tories demanded a full investigation into the Starmers’ links to Lord Alli. MPs are required to register gifts and donations within 28 days.
Mr Lammy told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: “The Prime Minister has announced funds he has received from Lord Alli, he has then gone back to the parliamentary commissioner to check details on some of the funds that made his way to his wife. .
“So he’s done that, and he’s trying to follow the rules. So this is not a transparency issue. He wants to be transparent.”
He added: “I have just come back from the United States, where the presidents and first ladies of the United States have a huge budget paid for by the taxpayer so that they look their best for the people of the United States. We don’t have that system here.
“The truth is that successive prime ministers, unless you’re a billionaire like the last one, rely on donations, political donations, so they can look their best, both with hope to represent the country, if you are in the country. opposition, or indeed as prime minister.”
The US president receives a salary of around £305,000 ($400,000) and an expense allowance of £38,100, although there is no specific clothing budget.
Sir Keir had a high-profile legal career before entering politics and Mr Lammy said “I’m not saying the Prime Minister is broke”, but “successive prime ministers want to look their best – and their partners – for the country, that is. what is behind this”.
A spokesperson from No. 10: “We asked the authorities for advice on coming to office.
“We believed we were compliant, however, following further inquiry this month, we have announced additional items.”
The guidance on Tory MPs rules states that Members should register “any benefit given to any third party, whether it benefited him or her, if the member is aware, or could be reasonably expected to know, about the benefit and that it was given because of his membership in the House or parliamentary or political activities”.
Lord Alli’s involvement with the Labor leader was already controversial after it emerged he had been given a security pass to Downing Street without apparently having a government role.
The series was dubbed “passports for glasses” because Lord Alli had already gifted the Labor leader thousands of pounds worth of clothing, accommodation and “multiple pairs” of glasses.
‘Serious breaches of the rules’
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “It only took 10 weeks for Keir Starmer to face an inquiry into his behaviour.
“Having faced allegations of dishonesty and apparent serious breaches of parliamentary rules there is now a need for a full investigation into the passports for glasses scandal.
“The millions of vulnerable pensioners across the country who are trying to choose between heating and eating will no doubt jump at the chance to get free clothes to keep warm in the face of Labour’s cruel cuts.”
Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly told Sky News: “Keir Starmer and Sue Gray are what we have to recognize. [his chief of staff] We have been very critical of the Conservatives about this exactly – now if your position is, then, ‘these things happen’ and we should be considerate and flexible in our response, that’s fine.
“But if, like Keir Starmer, you’ve been very aggressive in your criticism of the Conservatives for this, you have to make sure you’re very over-the-top, and he failed to do that.
“So I think it’s very legitimate that we point out the hypocrisy of someone who basically got his job by criticizing other people for what he’s doing now.”
