Sir Keir Starmer says he took £20,000 donation after promise to protect family in Sky News interview
Sir Keir Starmer accepted a £20,000 donation for the use of a flat during the election after promising his family he would protect them.
The prime minister‘s register of interests shows a declaration for accommodation provided by Lord Waheed Alli to the value of £20,437.28 from 29 May to 13 July this year. The election was called on 22 May.
Sir Keir said in a Sky News interview on Wednesday he had “promised” his 16-year-old son he could get to his school and sit his exams without being disturbed.
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The prime minister said he had made a pledge to his wife, son and daughter that he would “protect them”.
Sir Keir told political editor Beth Rigby that when the election was called ahead of the exam period, it meant there were “a lot of journalists” and also protesters “outside my front door”.
At this point the Labour leader told his son, who is 16, they would find somewhere he could “just study and get to school and back without having to go through all of that”.
Sir Keir says it was after this that “someone” offered to make a flat “available” for the junior Starmer – but claimed “no money exchanged hands”.
“I wasn’t going to let my son fail or not do well in his GCSEs because of journalists outside the front door”, the father of two added.
Sir Keir with wife Victoria at Taylor Swift’s Wembley gig. Pic: Keir Starmer/X
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Challenged on whether he was being defensive about the decision – which has been criticised when the current government is expected to raise taxes in the upcoming budget – Sir Keir repeated it was “important” to explain that “behind some of these numbers is a human story”.
When asked whether this was also the case for the thousands of pounds worth of clothes, hospitality, sports and music tickets, Sir Keir said it was a judgement call to be made by each MP on whether to accept donations.
However, he claimed his use of the directors’ box at Arsenal – where he regularly attends – was offered by the club, and he uses it to avoid increasing taxpayer spending on his security.
He also repeated his stance that he would no longer accept donations for clothing.
The prime minister declined to say whether he would ban MPs accepting such donations.
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Sir Keir has come under fire for accepting two and a half times more donations than any other MP after being highly critical of the Conservatives accepting donations.
Lord Alli, 59, a former chair of online fashion giant Asos, is his largest personal donor.
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The TV executive, who has donated to the party for 20 years, has become the focus of Labour’s conference in Liverpool due to the amount he has donated to Sir Keir.
Of £107,000 worth of gifts and hospitality handed to Sir Keir since December 2019, Lord Alli gave him the equivalent of £39,122.
He has also donated to other Labour MPs, including £14,000 for work events to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and he let Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner stay at his New York home over New Year’s Eve.
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Sky News political correspondent Liz Bates bumped into Lord Alli at the Labour conference on Tuesday and asked if he regrets making any of the donations.
However, the peer avoided the question and turned away, refusing to speak. The previous day, he told another Sky News correspondent: “Please don’t – this is not very nice.”
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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