Sir Keir Starmer is desperately trying to stop a political row over accepting lucrative freebies from overshadowing the Labour Party’s first annual conference. It’s the first one since winning the general election in July.

The row has since engulfed his wife, Victoria, his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and his chancellor Rachel Reeves, and threatens to upend his premiership after only a few months in power.

Last night, Downing Street confirmed that Sir Keir, Ms Rayner, and Ms Reeves would not accept any further donations for clothing. The U-turn will not apply to hospitality gifts or other similar donations.

Meanwhile, Ms Rayner has struck a more apologetic tone today, telling the BBC that she understood why people were “frustrated” and “angry” about the issue.

However, political commentator Patrick West suggested that the senior Labour politicians were only rowing back on the freebies because they were caught.

Writing in the Spectator, Mr West compared Mr Starmer and his allies to a cat “caught on the kitchen table, its head in the butter dish”.

He noted: “It looks alarmed, scared it has been found out. But it’s not sorry. Cats have no morality. They fear only repercussions. This is how Starmer and his cohorts are behaving.

“This U-turn has been prompted not by morality, but by expedience. He and his government show regret, but not remorse. Labour is undertaking it not because they feel bad over the tawdry affair, but because it looks bad.”

Sir Keir has been forced to answer questions over why he accepted nearly £40,000 in free football tickets, or £18,000 worth of clothes and glasses.

Mr West said that the series of dismal poll ratings for Sir Keir this week may have prompted the swift U-turn.

A new YouGov poll has found that one in seven of those who voted for Labour three months ago now regret doing so, while nearly two-thirds of all voters say Mr Starmer’s decision to accept freebies for his wife was unacceptable.

In another sign that the honeymoon for the new government is well and truly over, the latest Opinium poll for the Observer reveals that the PM’s approval rating has plunged below that of the Tory leader and his predecessor in No 10 Rishi Sunak

Almost half of the public (45 percent) now have a more negative view of Starmer and Labour since they came into office.

Only 27 percent of voters think the government’s opening months in power has been a success, while 57 percent think it has not been successful

James Crouch, head of policy and public affairs at Opinium said: “While the prime minister might have a world-beating new wardrobe, voters are refusing to wear his government’s austerity drive.

“Not only do the public feel worse off than they did before the election, but concerns that Labour has focused too much on government finances rather than growth have almost wiped out their lead on the economy. Much of the blame for this tone is being directed at Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, who now have approval ratings on a par with Rishi Sunak.