We’ll stop taking free clothes, say Starmer and Rayner

Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves will not accept free clothing in the future.

No 10 sources have confirmed that the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor will make the change.

It comes after Labour MPs called for Sir Keir to vow to stop taking gifts following days of negative headlines about his use of donations, including for clothes.

The party leader and his wife had accepted money from the Labour peer Lord Alli for clothing, with Sir Keir also getting donations for new glasses.

The changed position has been made public just before the Labour Party gathers for its annual conference, which begins in Liverpool on Sunday.

It suggests that, despite days of waving away questions about the appropriateness of Sir Keir taking such handouts, No 10 had concerns about the negative impact the coverage was having.

It appears that the decision is only in relation to clothing, rather than other donations – such as for glasses, football tickets and concert tickets – which have also come under scrutiny.

It has emerged that Ms Reeves has accepted £7,500 of donations for clothing since the start of 2023, despite those details not being laid out in MP financial declarations.

The money was given to the Chancellor by a friend called Juliet Rosenfield. It is understood it was used to buy clothing for work such as suits.

Ms Reeves did declare four donations from Ms Rosenfield but did not explicitly say the money was spent on clothing.

The Chancellor’s team have checked with the parliamentary authorities and believe this is in line with the rules, since it was money donated, then later spent on clothing, rather than items of clothing themselves being donated.

‘Starmer’s more interested in himself’

On Friday, it emerged that Ms Rayner received £3,550 in clothes from Lord Alli.

The deputy leader admitted that the gift, originally listed as a “donation in kind” was for items of work clothing.

Ms Rayner’s team initially refused to comment on whether a £3,550 donation in June listed as a “donation in kind for undertaking parliamentary duties” included clothes.

However, it is understood that Ms Rayner’s aides have contacted the registrar asking that the entry be published in full with the details required.

It comes after The Telegraph reported that several backbenchers urged the Prime Minister to reject any further handouts, accusing him of “hypocrisy” and “double standards”.

Senior figures were said to be “livid” by his decision to take so many gifts, with one MP warning it gave the impression “he’s more interested in himself” than the challenges facing the country.

One backbencher on the Left of the party told The Telegraph: “He should stop taking freebies immediately.

“It gives the impression that he’s more interested in himself than he is about the difficult situation facing the poorest in our country who we are supposed to represent.

“I don’t know of anyone who thinks this is a good idea. Friends and colleagues are mortified.”

Another MP from Labour’s centrist branch lashed out at the Prime Minister’s decision to accept complimentary tickets to sporting and cultural events.

“He keeps saying he has to go in the posh seats to be protected, ultimately saving money for all of us,” the MP said.

“But we know that most of these freebies were when he was leader of the opposition, so is he saying he needed more protection then (when he was relatively unknown) than the Prime Minister who sat in the stands?”

They added: “Loads of us [senior Labour backbenchers] are livid. This is what hypocrisy looks like – and most of us have been fighting the ‘they’re all the same’ rhetoric for our whole careers. Keir’s double standards just prove it’s entirely accurate.”

Calls to pay back money

A third Labour MP added their voice to calls for the Prime Minister to stop taking the handouts, pointing out that ordinary people “don’t have any gifts adorned on them”.

The three Cabinet members are now facing calls to pay back the money.

One Labour MP told The Telegraph “of course” that should happen: “It’s either right or it’s wrong. If it’s wrong now then it was always wrong so it follows they should reimburse.”

The row intensified last week when Sir Keir was accused of breaching parliamentary rules by failing to declare that Lord Alli, a millionaire Labour donor, bought clothes for his wife.

Sir Keir accepted £16,200 worth of “work clothing” from Lord Alli in April, according to his declaration of interests.

His wife, Lady Starmer, also accepted £5,000 worth of clothing and personal shopping from the same peer.

Those items are not the only ones to have garnered criticism, with Sir Keir’s decision to accept tickets in Arsenal’s corporate area to watch games, as well as tickets to see a Taylor Swift concert, also in the spotlight.

The three politicians’ decision not to accept any more clothing will prompt questions about why other gifts, such as tickets to events, are fine. It is also unclear if other ministers – such as the entire Cabinet – are expected to sign up to the same position.

In the past 24 hours, some Labour figures have begun to voice their discomfort with the party leader’s approach to donations.

Baroness Harman, the former acting Labour leader, told Sky News: “I think doubling down and trying to justify it is… making things worse.”

She added: “He just needs to say, right, with hindsight, I’m going to do things differently and this is how I’m going to do it in future.”