Sir Keir Starmer declares gifts and freebies totalling more than £100,000 - the highest of any MP

[TealTraybake]

Perhaps the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire needs his freebies because MPs aren’t paid enough. Or perhaps he’s just the knight commander of the most astonishing hypocrisy.

I'm saddened and disappointed in him. Him buying a season ticket and Arsenal upgrading him for security is completely understandable. I am starting to doubt about the season ticket now though...

But why does he need and is accepting free glasses and clothes for him and his wife and who knows what else. He can afford to buy his own.

I am afraid Animal Farm sprung to mind for me too.

Oh dear poor Keir, getting it in the neck from everybody who can’t/won’t understand why he can’t pay for his own bloody entertainment/wife’s dresses/glasses

I think that's the real point. I've been given tickets for events such as this over the years, and it is always with the intention of gaining more business. Not a bribe as such, as no overt conditions, but always as a sweetener.

I think it says more about him that he goes to football to be honest. Not a proper game like rugby.

Good, it shows he wants to be completely transparent.

Do people actually think he's a dishonest man?

Better than £200,000 for gold wallpaper for Boris Johnson.

I'm neither a right winger nor a Corbynite.

But in all my time as a civil servant I haven't accepted even as much as a free pencil. It's always made quite clear we shouldn't accept any sort of gifts. I don't know why the rules are different for MPs. A Clear cut "no gifts" system would be easy for even those who "struggle to understand" the rules to follow

The comment about rugby says more about you than him.

Nigel Farage earns more than £100,000 in a month for activities outside of being an MP.

That I have a sense of humour presumably?

You think he's connecting with the "normal public" in a corporate hospitality box?

Pensioners used to think it was normal to put the heating on but many will now have to think twice.

I suspect people expected better of Labour who historically have not been as corrupt as the Tories. Its a sobering and sad fact that they're all largely as bad as eachother, and we don't have any decent parties in this country anymore.

What's your point?

But if you needed 20 different dresses because your husband was on the campaign trail and you had to go to Buckingham Palace state dinners so needed evening dresses could you afford all those?

Compared to a lot of people the Starmers are well off. But he has spent his career in public service which doesn't pay as well as investment banking or marrying a billionaire's daughter.

He's now a high profile politician on a global level but earns less than a lot of company CEOs who don't have to appear on the national and global stage as often as he does or have the security issues he does. He is sacrificing his privacy and family life for a relatively small salary that won't cover all his and his wife's wardrobe needs.

For the football he'd like to be in the stands but can't because of security. Using a box so he can still have some leisure time with his son is just an adaptation so he can retain some of his normal life.

He has accepted gifts, all perfectly legal, i think he is off his head to do so, incredibly stupid, been in less than 3 months, country in a mess but what do we hear? tough decisions that will make you lot poorer but none of these decisions will affect me, in fact i'll get richer.

But as far as i can see there is no corruption, if you think there is, please tell us or report it to the Police.

Yes, I do think that.

Whether or not gifts and donations are declared..what is never declared is what the intention behind them is. What do they get in return?

I was just about to look up the cost of that wallpaper! Thanks for saving me the job.

A few pairs of glasses to give him a few different looks for his public appearances all over the world is hardly on the same scale of ridiculously expensive wallpaper that only the PM sees.

I know you think your last line was a clever gotcha, but I think it is pretty corrupt to be honest that the man who donated dresses to his wife mysteriously has a pass to downing street and no one knows why; i think it's pretty corrupt to lie to voters and then do a U turn once in office on policies; I find some of their choices to this point only a few months in absolutely awful and bordering on corrupt.

That would take a radical reform of how political parties are funded. The entire political system depends on donations and gifts. Or would this only apply once a politician is elected?

Whoever is in power, their wife get's it from the public and media whatever they wear. Cherie Blair complained that maintaining her appearance alongside Tony was costing her a fortune at her personal expense. And then you had Samantha Cameron who used the exposure of being the PM's wife to boost her own fashion brand (with a £2.5m 'investment' from a Tory party donor).

There's nothing exceptional about a man wanting to watch football.

There's nothing exceptional about the spouse of a prime minister needing to wear nice things when accompanying them to official engagements.

Anyone remember the Yes, Prime Minister episode when Hacker is trying to arrange his own lunch? It's amazing how relevant that series still is.

Do we want to lock-in the concept that you can only be a politician if you're independently wealthy and able to pay your own way from your own funds? - from your own savings if there's a move to prevent second jobs/alternative sources of income whilst in an elected position.

@Happii what policy has he done a Uturn on?

Perhaps people could stop defending the current government by saying they are less worse than the last.

Exactly. Poor old Keir said he'd be different and isn't. Just after the freebies

the word Corrupt is thrown about very easily but Corrupt means:

cause to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.
"there is a continuing fear of firms corrupting politicians in the search for contracts"

Now where is the evidence Starmer is Corrupt or even borderline Corrupt.

Stupid yes.

Now if you re really concerned about Corruption in Politics, perhaps look at the 10s of millions given to the Tory party by property developers? or Hestors £20m?

They've been in power for less than three months. It's a perfectly valid reaction. A feeling of relief than grown ups are in charge.

Grown ups? Where ..do tell

Grown ups in charge? Relief? Are we talking about the same government?

I think the complex rules around gifts need to be changed. It’s too open to abuse by both MP’s and wealthy donors and there’s no comparable rule for other public servants. Let’s face it, Lord Whoever isn’t donating to charity when he’s bankrolling Lady Sponger’s designer dresses, it’s specifically to gain influence.

Either we scrap gifts altogether. Or we follow the US model and make it normal for extremely wealthy benefactors to fund politicians for commercial favours. You can’t pretend to take the moral high ground and then be grubbing around making excuses about needing your glasses gifted because reasons.