Premier League officials have warned that proposals for a UK watchdog on gifting could weaken the appeal of football.
Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Keir Starmer has been rocked by a new freebies row after it emerged MPs have lapped up £100,000 of football tickets.
Premier League officials have warned that proposals for a UK watchdog on gifting could weaken the appeal of football.
The Observer found that more than a third of the cabinet and at least 60 MPs (41 of which are Labour) have been given tickets in the last three years, worth up to £4,000 for individual events.
The Premier League also told Express.co.uk that spending £8,500 to take five Labour MPs to the Brit Awards “is normal practice”.
Clive Betts, Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on football, said the giveaways were “clearly part of a campaign”. He said: “I don’t think they can influence the regulator being set up, but they can influence what powers it has.”
Jonathan Reynolds (Image: Getty)
Labour has proposed plans to increase the financial powers of a watchdog after the Tory’s football governance bill ran out of time in parliament following the election.
Premier League bosses are lobbying to water down the powers of the 2021 review of football ordinance. It would have the power to demand financial information from clubs and scrutinise owners’ finances.
The following year, the Premier League
The Premier League gave MPs gifts of just £5,500 in 2018, according to analysis of MPs declared interests by the Observer.
Last year, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds accepted two tickets worth £1,000 for the Europa League match between Manchester United and Barcelona at Old Trafford.
Reynolds said last month he had “no problem” with MPs accepting hospitality, saying it was “always going to be the case people in public life are invited to certain events”.
