Keir Starmer slammed for £100k ‘freebies’ – £4k Swiftie tickets to Arsenal field

SIR Keir Starmer has been accused of “hypocrisy” and “entitlement” after accepting more than £100,000 of free tickets and gifts.

The Prime Minister, an avid Arsenal fan who earns £166,786, has enjoyed dozens of football matches and gigs since becoming Labour boss in 2020. He has declared more freebies than other major party leaders in recent times, including hospitality worth £4,000 at a Taylor Swift show and £698 of Coldplay tickets in Manchester.

The PM and his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer. also received free clothes from a donor. The revelation he has accepted nearly 40 sets of free tickets sparked a huge backlash and suggestions of “sleaze”.

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It comes after millions of pensioners had their winter fuel payments cut and follows repeated criticism by Sir Keir of “Tory sleaze” under the last government. Labour peer and accountant Lord Sikka said: “People expected change and cleanup of politics. Accepting freebies, donations always carries a smell of sleaze. Why do it? Must ban political donations gifts.” Critics said there is “no such thing as a free lunch”.

Richard Murphy, a Sheffield University accounting professor, claimed it “stinks of hypocrisy” at a time when he is sending out “the message” that the country must live within its means. The tax campaigner suggested on his blog that it presents the PM as being “possessed of a sense of entitlement”.

Kevin Horkin, the director of the charity Our Dogs, tweeted: “Well it didn’t take long for the new PM to fall at the first fence.”

Among the mass haul includes four box tickets to watch Arsenal play Watford, worth £2,160, in November 2021. He also accepted a £4,500 four-day trip to a Welsh beauty spot, as well as £20,000 of accommodation and £16,000 in clothes from Labour donor Lord Alli.

The PM has accepted freebies for various other matches, including watching Arsenal against Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Porto and Brighton. Sir Keir has defended his acceptance of hospitality by saying it’s for security reasons as he can’t watch from the stands.

He previously said: “If I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a game. You could say: ‘Well, bad luck.’ That’s why gifts have to be registered. But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”

Labour MP Emily Thornberry today suggested as “long as there’s no undue influence” and the money is declared, then the system has to be accepted for the way it is. She bizarrely compared it to going to Buckingham Palace and having to take a lunch box. The MP said: “I suppose you have to think about the principle and think, well how do you apply it and where does it end.

“If you’re not to take anything in terms of donation from anyone, what happens if he goes to Buckingham Palace for a state dinner, is he supposed to take a packed lunch? Where do you stop? These are the things that happen all the time in politics.”

We approached no10 for a comment who referred us back to his previous comments.

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