Cabinet ministers do not have to follow Keir Starmer‘s lead and repay any post-election donations or gifts they received, he said today.
The Prime Minister repaid £6,000 of gifts and hospitality on Wednesday amid a deepening row over freebies accepted by the new government.
But speaking in Merseyside today he absolved those around him from doing the same.
Asked if senior ministers should follow his lead in paying back such donations, the Prime Minister said: ‘No. I mean look, we are going to draw up some principles so that everyone can see the basis on which donations et cetera are being accepted.
‘We are working on that. Until they are drawn up I decided to repay so that any future activities, of me or anybody else, are in accordance with whatever the new principles are.
‘That is my personal decision, I am not saying others should do the same.’
It came amid a new cash-for-access row involving the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
The Prime Minister repaid £6,000 of gifts and hospitality on Wednesday amid a deepening row over freebies accepted by the new government. But speaking in Merseyside today he absolved those around him from doing the same.
It came amid a new cash-for-access row involving the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Mr Miliband told ITV’s Good Morning Britain ministers were not interested in having businesses pay for access to them.
The Sun reported that a Labour Party commercial team had offered company chiefs a chance to ‘gain insight’ with Mr Reynolds in exchange for £30,000.
Mr Reynolds was unaware of the meeting – which was first reported by The Sun newspaper – had not agreed to it, nor will he be attending it.
Energy Secretary Mr Miliband today urged Labour ‘don’t do it again’ when asked what his message to the party would be following the reports.
Political parties often organise events alongside business leaders, including the Conservatives, who held a business day at their party conference this week.
Mr Miliband told ITV’s Good Morning Britain ministers were not interested in having businesses pay for access to them.
‘The answer is – whether it is me or Jonathan Reynolds – it is not about paying to have access. That is not what we are about, no,’ he said.
But when asked what his message to Labour officials was following the incident, he said: ‘Don’t do it again is my message.’
He also said Sir Keir’s decision to repay £6,000 worth of donations sends ‘a signal’ and was a ‘prelude’ to introducing new rules on gifts for ministers.
Asked about the meeting, a Labour spokesperson said: ‘The Business Secretary isn’t involved in this, was completely unaware, and isn’t attending.’
The Daily Mail contacted the PM’s entire top team after he repaid £6,000 of gifts and hospitality on Wednesday, saying: ‘It was right for me to make those repayments.’
But all those in his Cabinet who have bagged freebies since entering Downing Street on July 5 declined to say that they would follow suit – or tried to justify not repaying them.
It suggests the PM is at odds with his own Cabinet over how to deal with the scandal.
It came as a new YouGov poll found nearly four in five people (79 per cent) think Sir Keir was right to repay the freebies.
Just 6 per cent said he was wrong to, suggesting the public would back other Cabinet ministers doing so and support a future ban on accepting tickets and hospitality for major events.
However, according to No 10 insiders, Sir Keir is leaving his top team to decide for themselves whether to follow his lead. Among those who declined to say whether they would repay freebies were Deputy PM Angela Rayner, who accepted an £836 ‘visit to a DJ booth’ while raving at an Ibiza nightclub, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden.
He received tickets for him and his wife to a Bruce Springsteen concert at Wembley Stadium worth more than £300.
It also included Environment Secretary Steve Reed, who accepted £583.25 worth tickets to a Kylie Minogue concert, and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who got two tickets to the Royal Box at Wimbledon and two tickets to a Taylor Swift concert at Wembley Stadium.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Wes Streeting had four hospitality tickets to the same Taylor Swift concert and Commons Leader Lucy Powell accepted £1,000 of tickets to an England cricket match at Lord’s and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Indicating that Ms Powell will not repay the freebies, a source close to her said she ‘welcomes full transparency and any tightening of the rules as we work as a government to drive up standards in public life.’ All the others declined to say whether they would pay theirs back.
