The prime minister brought up the “human” reason for having moved his family out of his Kentish Town home in north London, saying no cash changed hands as a result.
Starmer has accepted almost 40 sets of free tickets during his time as Labour leader, mostly to football matches, but also £4,000 for hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert and £698 for Coldplay tickets in Manchester.
In July and August alone, the four candidates to become the next Conservative leader – Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – received between £70,000 and £160,000 in donations each, although much of that is needed for campaigning efforts such as staff and venues.
The row over Alli’s donations risks defining Labour’s first months in office, and partly overshadowed their conference in Liverpool last week. The risks are particularly high for Starmer, given his repeated election pledges to be a contrast to the sleaze and self-interest of the Conservatives.
The SNP asked for an investigation into Alli’s donations on Friday in a letter to the standards commissioners in the House of Commons and House of Lords, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, and the cabinet secretary, Simon Case.
The SNP MP Brendan O’Hara wrote that the revelations had “become Sir Keir Starmer’s version of the expenses scandal” and that unless the matter were “comprehensively investigated”, then it was “inevitable that the damaging drip, drip of revelations will continue to erode public trust”.
He also asked for Alli’s Downing Street pass, which he held for a time after the election, to be looked into.
Alli gave Rayner a donation for work clothing in June. He declared it as a donation in kind worth £3,550 without explaining that it was for outfits. The deputy prime minister is understood to have contacted the registrar of interests to give a fuller description of the donation.
Reeves has accepted a donation of £7,500 from a donor, Juliet Rosenfeld, since the beginning of last year, which was used to pay for clothing. Reeves declared it as a cash donation rather than as a gift and has been assured that this was within the rules.
