Conservatives question whether ministers will face Oasis freebie ban

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to explain if his ministers will accept Oasis reunion freebies amid an outcry over Taylor Swift tickets.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister John Glen said Labour frontbenchers have been “beset by a series of scandals” involving freebies, as he asked several questions about the Government’s approach to accepting hospitality, gifts and donations in kind.

The Conservative MP asked if ministers will be “banned from taking junkets” at next year’s in demand Oasis reunion gigs, before questioning whether it was “just Taylor Swift that was a handout too far”.

Cabinet Office minister Ellie Reeves did not answer directly on some of the specific questions asked by Mr Glen, but claimed the Government would rectify a “Tory freebies loophole” when it comes to ministerial declarations on hospitality.

Lists of hospitality received by ministers were published by Whitehall departments once a quarter and did not include the value, while MPs and shadow ministers had to declare their interests within 28 days and include the cost of hospitality, Ms Reeves said.

She said the Government will “correct this imbalance”, telling the Commons: “In the future, the Government will publish a register of ministers’ gifts and hospitality on a broadly equivalent basis to that which is published in the registers of Members and Lords interests.”

Mr Glen, who secured an urgent question on the issue, asked: “What gifts and hospitality can ministers now accept? Can Cabinet ministers continue to party in DJ booths in Ibiza?

“Will ministers be banned from taking junkets at the Oasis 25 Tour or was it just Taylor Swift that was a handout too far? What role did Downing Street play in the VIP escort, further to the free tickets for Taylor Swift from Universal Music?

“Have all the political staff in the Prime Minister’s parliamentary office correctly declared their financial interests and hospitality? The new chief of staff’s entry seems very empty.

“Have all ministerial donations in kind been declared at their full market value? Why do ministers refuse in PQs (parliamentary questions) to say when the new ministerial transparency platform will go live?”

Mr Glen asked if the “sheer scale” of the Prime Minister’s receipt of others’ “largesse” is now a “conflict of interest”, adding: “Will (Ms Reeves) confirm that the Prime Minister is taking a donation in kind of £100,000-a-year from Arsenal Football Club and will he now recuse himself from the Football Governance Bill?

“Amid scandals like cash-for-croissants, ‘Free Gear Keir’ and passes for glasses, where is Labour’s new ethics and integrity commission? And what have Labour donors got in return for their generosity?”

Mr Glen, in his concluding remarks, asked: “Can the minister without portfolio explain to this House why the millionaire Prime Minister can’t clothe himself without gifts from others?”

The Conservative MP shouted “no answers” as Ms Reeves replied.

The minister told her Tory counterpart: “This Government is committed to rebuilding trust in politics.”

She pointed to Sir Keir’s decision to commission a new set of principles for gifts and hospitality, adding: “This will outlaw the Tory freebie loophole because this Government is committed to being more upfront and open than our predecessors.

“But we will take no lectures from the party opposite on gifts and hospitality, standards in public life or trust in politics.”

Swift was given a motorbike convoy to protect her on the way to Wembley Stadium despite initial police reservations, The Sun reported.

It emerged Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan were involved in talks around security for the sell-out summer shows.

But Number 10 and the Mayor of London have insisted that the Metropolitan Police takes operational decisions independently from politicians.

Prime Minister Sir Keir earlier this month announced he would pay back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since entering Number 10 in the summer.

This included covering the cost of six Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.

Sir Keir has also previously defended his decision to accept hospitality in order to attend football matches, citing security concerns which prevent him from watching from the stands without a large and expensive police presence.

Conservative former minister Richard Holden said: “I think the Government’s response has been totally tone deaf to the situation we’ve seen raised, not because of the Government’s transparency, but actually because of the actions of our popular press.”

For the Liberal Democrats, Sarah Olney called for the Government’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests to be able to start their own investigations.