Keir Starmer’s wife Victoria has been pictured at London Fashion Week – as a row unfolds over a Labour donor buying her outfits.
Lady Starmer was seen smiling in the front row of the Edeline Lee show at the glitzy event in the capital. She sported sunglasses as she watched on today.
It comes amid an unfolding row after Mr Starmer was accused of failing to declare clothing donations for his wife by Labour donor Lord Alli. It is understood the peer also paid for designer outfits, a personal shopper and alterations during the election campaign and after her husband became PM.
It is claimed Mr Starmer broke parliamentary rules by failing to declare the donations within the designated time limit. The Conservatives have written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner calling for an investigation after the gifts were not initially declared in the register of MPs’ interests.
The Sunday Times reported that the Prime Minister approached the parliamentary authorities on Tuesday to make a late declaration after being given updated advice on what needed to be registered. Mr Starmer said it was “very important” to him that rules are followed and that “we have transparency”.
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He said his team “reached out for advice on what declaration should be made”. He went on: “They then sought out for further advice more recently, as a result of which they made the relevant declarations.
“But for me it’s really important that the rules are followed. That’s why I was very pleased my team reached out proactively – not once, but twice – because it is very important that we have transparency, very important that you and others can see the rules are being followed.”
Earlier Home Secretary Yvette Cooper slapped down the suggestion that taxpayers should pay for clothes for senior politicians and their partners. She said “of course” the public shouldn’t foot the bill when quizzed about Lady Starmer being bought outfits.
At the weekend Foreign Secretary David Lammy defended the donations – pointing out that in the US, senior politicians can claim a clothing allowance. Quizzed if this should happen in the UK, Home Secretary Ms Cooper said: “No, of course not. That’s not the way that we do things in this country.”
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She continued: “This is a political donation, and I don’t know the details of the donation, but donations are always declared in the proper way.” The Home Secretary added: “We a very different country to the US… We all recognise huge differences between different countries and the arrangements that we have. I think it’s probably a very good thing, sometimes, that our politics is very different from US politics.”
On Sunday Mr Lammy said there was no taxpayer-funded pot for the PM and his wife Victoria’s wardrobes, unlike the United States where the President receives a generous expenses allowance.
Mr Lammy told the BBC : “The Prime Minister did declare funds that he received from Lord Alli, he’s then gone back to the Parliamentary Commissioner to further check details on some of those funds that have made their way to his wife. So he has done that, and he is seeking to comply with the rules. So this is not an issue of transparency. He is attempting to be transparent.”
He added: “I’ve just come back from the United States, where US presidents and first ladies have a huge budget paid for by the taxpayer so that they look their best on behalf of the US people. We don’t have that system over here.
“The truth is that successive prime ministers, unless you’re a billionaire like the last one, do rely on donations, political donations, so they can look their best, both in the hope of representing the country, if you’re in the opposition, or indeed as Prime Minister.”
The US president receives a salary of around £305,000 and a £38,100 expenses allowance – although there is no specific clothing budget. Mr Lammy said “I’m not suggesting the Prime Minister is broke”, but “successive prime ministers want to look their best – and their partners – for the country, that is what lies behind this”.