Starmer’s free tickets for Arsenal and Taylor Swift part of job, says minister
Keir Starmer’s attendance at Arsenal football matches and Taylor Swift concerts is “part of the job”, the business secretary has said.Jonathan Reynolds described the occasions for which Starmer had accepted tickets, including a Coldplay gig and football matches, as “major cultural, sporting events”.The minister said he had “no problem” with politicians accepting gifts that can be of “a more personal nature” and noted hard-working politicians were entitled to “a bit of relaxation”.Starmer has accepted almost 40 sets of free tickets during his time as Labour leader, mostly to football matches but also £4,000 of hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert and £698-worth of Coldplay tickets in Manchester.He has also come under fire for the number of gifts accepted from Waheed Alli, who paid for work clothing worth £12,000, accommodation valued at more than £20,000 and glasses valued at £2,485.
The donor was temporarily given a pass to No 10 after the election.Reynolds told Times Radio that accepting hospitality “is not a perk of the job, it’s part of the job”.The cabinet minister said: “There’s always going to be the case where people in public life are invited to certain events.I can tell you, having been a secretary of state for two months, pretty much every working hour of it is spent working.And if people get the chance for a little bit of relaxation as part of that, again, I’ve no problem or objection to that.
“People want to engage with decision-makers.They want to ask you to be aware of what they are doing.Again, I think we have the right rules on transparency in relation to that.But this is about the job that we do and the need to be engaged with the sectors that we cover.”On ministers receiving gifts while cutting fuel allowance to pensioners, Reynolds told Sky News: “The reason we’ve had to make some tough decisions already in the first two months is because there’s a big black hole in the public finances.
“I don’t think that is the same thing,I know Keir Starmer personally, I know how hard he works,If he’s going to a football match or anything, to give himself a little bit of a wider life experience and just working every second, again I don’t have any objections to that, as long as it’s transparent,”Starmer has previously insisted his acceptance of hospitality is related to his security requirements of not being able to go into the stands, saying: “If I don’t accept a gift of hospitality, I can’t go to a game,You could say: ‘Well, bad luck.
’ That’s why gifts have to be registered.But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is pushing it a bit far.”His acceptance of gifts drew criticism after the FT reported during the election he had taken £76,000 worth of hospitality and freebies.Since then, he has declared another £4,000 in Taylor Swift tickets and £20,000 of accommodation from Lord Alli.This was mostly provided during the election campaign but also continued one week after he had become prime minister until 13 July.
Former major party leaders have not declared as many free tickets and hospitality.During David Cameron’s time as opposition party leader he declared one set of Rugby World Cup tickets, and being hosted at the Conservative party’s Black and White ball, along with various gifts of hampers and other treats.He also registered £4,475 of discounted personal training sessions.
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The governor of the Bank of England has signalled readiness to resume interest rate cuts despite keeping borrowing costs unchanged on Thursday at 5%, amid concerns over lingering high inflation.Andrew Bailey said the central bank was “now gradually on the path down” from borrowing costs that were among the highest since before the 2008 financial crisis. “I think interest rates are going to come down, I’m optimistic on that front,” he said.Earlier on Thursday, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) had voted by a majority of eight to one against launching a back-to-back reduction in interest rates, pausing its efforts to ease the pressure on household budgets.Last month, the Bank cut interest rates for the first time since the Covid pandemic was declared four years ago, after a sharp fall in inflation from a peak of more than 11% in late 2022 – the highest level since the early 1980s
Gambling firm appears to trivialise Lebanon pager blasts in social media post
The gambling company that owns the William Hill, 888 and Mr Green brands has apologised after one of its social media accounts appeared to make light of the pager explosions in Lebanon that killed 12 people and injured thousands.The explosions on Tuesday were followed by walkie-talkies exploding on Wednesday, killing another 20 people.The post was shared on the Israeli Facebook page of London-listed Evoke plc, previously known as 888 Holdings, and included a crudely drawn image of what it described as a “beeper”.The caption above the picture read: “If that’s what they’ve managed to do with beepers, imagine what it’s like to work with technology. Wow
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British MPs and international organisations hacked on X
British politicians and international organisations have had their accounts on X hacked on Wednesday night.MPs including Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, and the Labour MPs Chris Elmore and Carolyn Harris all shared the same message on the social media site. Although quickly removed, the messages could still be read on TweetDeck, a dashboard used to manage accounts on X, formerly Twitter.The messages, which also included a lengthy code, said: “THIS IS HACKED ACCOUNT!!!! INTRODUCING HACKED ON SOLANA on each account we hack we publish the token address so we pump it and make profits together.”The message on the justice secretary’s account was posted at 7
Australia thrash England by seven wickets: first men’s cricket one-day international – as it happened
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Lewis Hamilton unhappy with ‘racial element’ of FIA president’s comments
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