Minister admits she ‘worries about how things look’ as Keir Starmer dismisses criticism over £100k freebies while Labour slashes winter fuel allowance for pensioners _ hieuuk
A minister today admitted she ‘worries about how everything looks’ as she defended Keir Starmer from criticism for taking over £100,000 worth of freebies.
Jess Phillips insisted the PM had ‘lived entirely by the rules’ that apply to MPs as she was quizzed about the furore during a round of interviews.
But amid signs of Labour anxiety about the public will view the gifts after the winter fuel was axed and with threats of tax hikes, the Home Office minister acknowledged that ‘you have to consider how people in the country feel about things’.
Asked whether she would accept space in a corporate box for football matches, as Sir Keir has done, she replied: ‘I don’t like the Arsenal.’
The premier last night repeated that he had done nothing wrong – and claimed he was in fact saving taxpayers money, because he would need more security in the stands.
However, Baroness Harman has become the first senior party figure to publicly criticise Sir Keir for accepting more than £100,000 worth of gifts and hospitality in the past five years.
Jess Phillips insisted the PM had ‘lived entirely by the rules’ that apply to MPs as she was quizzed about the furore during a round of interviews
Keir Starmer watching Arsenal play Wolverhampton on August 17
The ex-minister said the Labour leader was making it ‘worse’ by ‘doubling down’ and trying to justify a donor paying for thousands of pounds’ worth of clothes for himself and his wife.
Stressing it was not a ‘hanging offence’, Lady Harman suggested he should come clean about a ‘misstep’.
Touring broadcast studios this morning, Ms Phillips told Times Radio: ‘The Prime Minister has lived entirely by the rules that have governed every single member of Parliament, certainly since I’ve been there – he received gifts and things, and he declared them.’
‘Let me tell you, it feels like he’s breathing down my neck to make sure that we’re doing things right in my department,’ she added.
Asked whether she would accept similar gifts, Ms Phillips replied: ‘I don’t like the Arsenal.’
She added: ‘We get invited to theatre performances and things, and you go along and you support the arts, and people want you to go to their things because they want it supported.
‘So if you can find me a politician who has never done anything like that, has never ever, you know, gone to their local theatre to watch something then, well, I think they’re lying to you.’
Challenged on Sky News that she seemed to be saying the row did not matter, Ms Phillips said: ‘It’s not that I don’t think it’s important at all. I think you have to consider how people in the country feel about things.
‘I have to say nobody has mentioned it to me. I haven’t had a single email about it…
Pressed whether she was concerned about the juxtaposition of the gifts with winter fuel allowance being stripped from pensioners, she said: ‘Of course I always worry about how everything looks.
Baroness Harman (pictured) said the Labour leader was making it ‘worse’ by ‘doubling down’ and trying to justify a donor paying for thousands of pounds’ worth of clothes for himself and his wife
‘Those two things are completely separate things….
‘But of course I worry about how things look and I want people to feel like the government is having to make some very very difficult decisions, but fundamentally is working to try and make things better.’
The PM faced a gruelling series of local TV interviews last night amid the scrutiny for taking suits and spectacles worth thousands of pounds from Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli, who also gave high-end clothing to Sir Keir’s wife Victoria.
Sir Keir has also been revealed to have accepted a luxury box at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium when he wants to watch his beloved Gunners.
In his broadcast interviews, the Labour premier vowed to continue watching Arsenal from posh seats after being told he can’t sit in the stands with regular fans due to security concerns.
He also claimed that doing so would save taxpayers’ money, but dodged questions about Lord Alli’s funding of his personal wardrobe.
