Lord Alli: Labour donor at centre of Starmer freebies row under Lords investigation
The Labour peer at the centre of a row over donations to Sir Keir Starmer is under investigation by the Lords’ standards watchdog.
Lord Waheed Alli is facing a probe over “alleged non-registration of interests”, leading to a possible breach of the members’ code of conduct.
Follow latest: Starmer pays back £6,000 worth of gifts
The UK parliament website notes that the British businessman, who is one of the Labour Party’s biggest donors and the largest personal donor to the prime minister since December 2019, is being investigated for potential breaches to codes 14(a) and 17.
These are rules requiring members to make clear what their interests are that might be reasonably thought to influence their parliamentary actions, and ensuring entries are up to date.
It is understood that the investigation doesn’t relate to donations but rather a clerical element of already declared interests.
The Lords’ Commissioner declined to give further comment.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Lord Alli will cooperate fully with the Lords’ Commissioner and he is confident all interests have been registered. We cannot comment further while this is ongoing.”
Who is Lord Alli?
Lord Alli has found himself in the headlines in recent weeks, after scrutiny over the tens of thousands of pounds he has given to his party’s MPs to cover clothes, holidays and work events.
According to data unveiled by Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project, he gave Sir Keir over £39,000 in gifts and hospitality over the course of the last parliament.
This year alone, the prime minister has received nearly £19,000 worth of work clothes and several pairs of glasses from Lord Alli as well as £20,000 worth of accommodation.
Sir Keir said this was to allow his son to study for his GCSEs in peace at the former TV executive’s central London flat while the family home was surrounded by media during the general election.
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‘I wasn’t going to let my son fail or not do well in his GCSEs,’ says Keir Starmer.
He has argued Lord Alli was motivated to help financially because he wanted Labour to win the campaign.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have also received donations used for purchasing clothes by the long-standing Labour peer, while Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson accepted £14,000 for work events around her 40th birthday.
While these donations had been declared by those involved, Conservatives have accused ministers of being part of a “government of self-service”.
Labour has also faced accusations of hypocrisy, having accused the Tories of “sleaze” and vowing to clean up politics if they got into government.
Sir Keir, Ms Reeves and Ms Rayner announced they are no longer going to accept donations to pay for clothes following the backlash.
The controversy overshadowed the party’s first annual conference since taking power and was cited by Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield as one of the reasons she resigned the whip on Saturday in protest against the leadership.
‘We need answers’
Lord Alli is the former chairman of online fashion retailer ASOS who worked as the party’s chief fundraiser for the general election.
He has donated to Labour for 20 years, and was ennobled by Tony Blair in 1998.
The SNP welcomed the investigation, saying the “scandal has wrecked public confidence in Keir Starmer, his government and the Westminster system, and there must be full transparency and accountability”.
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Lord Alli avoids gift row questions
But they called for further enquiries into all the donations made by Lord Alli and the granting of a Downing Street security pass, which the government has said was temporary so he could attend political meetings.
The SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesman Brendan O’Hara said: “Voters are appalled that Labour ministers have been lining their pockets with more than £800,000 of luxury designer clothes, holidays, hospitality and donations, while imposing painful austerity cuts on the rest of us, and they want to know what donors were getting in exchange.
“We need answers – including why these gifts were taken, whether there have been breaches of the MPs’ and ministerial code, and why Lord Alli was handed a security pass to the halls of power.”
Bitcoin may stage a recovery above the key $90,000 psychological mark amid easing monetary inflation concerns in the world’s largest economy.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) over two-month downtrend has raised numerous alarms that the current Bitcoin bull cycle may be over, defying the theory of the four-year market cycle.
Despite widespread investor concerns, Bitcoin may be on track to a recovery above $90,000 due to easing inflation concerns in the United States, according to Markus Thielen, the CEO of 10x Research.
“We can see some counter-trend rally as prices are oversold, and there is a good chance that the Fed is mildly dovish,” Thielen told Cointelegraph, adding:
“This is not a major bullish development, rather some fine-tuning from the policymakers. We think BTC will be in a broader consolidation range but we could trade back towards $90,000.”
Bitcoin daily RSI indicator. Source: 10x Research
Investor confidence may also be improved by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments indicating that the Fed will “remain on hold amid rising uncertainty among households and businesses,” wrote 10x Research in a March 17 X post, adding:
“Powell also expressed doubts about the sustained inflationary impact of Trump’s tariffs, referencing the 2019 scenario where tariff-related inflation was temporary, and the Fed eventually cut rates three times.”
Meanwhile, investors are eagerly awaiting today’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, for cues on the Fed’s monetary policy for the rest of 2025, a development that may impact investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin.
Related: Crypto market’s biggest risks in 2025: US recession, circular crypto economy
FOMC meeting will be crucial for Bitcoin’s trajectory: analyst
Traders and investors will be watching for any hints about the ending of the Fed’s quantitative easing (QT) program, “a move that could boost liquidity and risk assets,” according to Iliya Kalchev, dispatch analyst at Nexo digital asset investment platform.
“The upcoming Fed decision could be a major catalyst for further movements,” the analyst told Cointelegraph, adding:
“If Chair Powell spreads his dovish wings, Bitcoin could take flight on renewed bullish momentum.”
“However, persistent inflation concerns or a reaffirmation of tight financial conditions, such as elevated interest rates or continued liquidity tightening, could limit upside potential,” added the analyst.
Related: Rising $219B stablecoin supply signals mid-bull cycle, not market top
Fed target interest rate probabilities. Source: CME Group’s FedWatch tool
Markets are currently pricing in a 99% chance that the Fed will keep interest rates steady, according to the latest estimates of the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Still, investors have slashed their exposure to US equities by the most on record by 40-percentage-points between February and March, according to Bank of America’s latest survey — raising concerns that recession fears may hurt Bitcoin’s price action.
Magazine: ETH may bottom at $1.6K, SEC delays multiple crypto ETFs, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 9 – 15
A minister has denied misleading Labour voters with a £5bn package of benefit cuts that was not in the party’s manifesto.
Stephen Timms told Sky News Breakfast with Wilfred Frost that Labour pledged to “fix the broken system” during the election campaign and said it would reform or replace the work capability assessment (WCA).
Politics live: PM defends welfare cuts
Scrapping the WCA was one of a series of measures announced on Tuesday, along with narrowing the criteria to qualify for some health and disability benefits.
Labour’s manifesto said: “We believe the work capability assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced, alongside a proper plan to support disabled people to work.”
However, it did not explicitly mention cuts.
Asked if Labour had misled people, social security minister Mr Timms said: “No.”
Stephen Timms on Sky News Breakfast
There’s always a tweet…
It was put to him that his boss Liz Kendall previously tweeted against benefit cuts being considered by former Tory chancellor George Osborne under his austerity programme.
In 2016, the now work and pensions secretary retweeted a colleague who accused Mr Osborne of introducing the cuts “to give handouts to the rich”, alongside a petition campaigning against the measure.
Mr Timms said the Tories “made lots of changes which did a great deal of damage”, including reforms to universal credit which put more people on the higher rate and meant they were “no longer supported into work”.
“We opposed damaging changes the previous government made,” he said.
“We’re bringing forward a package which we think will do the job that’s needed, support people back into work and make the system sustainable financially.”
Read more:
All Labour’s welfare reforms explained
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Benefits cuts Q&A | What do they mean for you?
What measures have been announced?
The most significant measure announced yesterday was making it harder to qualify for personal independence payments (PIP), which is money for people who have extra care or mobility needs as a result of a disability.
The new PIP test will go on to replace the WCA, which currently decides whether people are fit to work or not. There will also be a consultation on delaying access to the health top-up on universal credit until someone is 22.
The announcement was met with criticism from Labour backbenchers, unions and charities, who called for the cuts to be reversed and warned it would push more sick and disabled people into poverty.
However, it is unclear how many people could lose benefits as a result as the impact assessment will not be released until the spring statement next week.
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What to expect from the spring statement
Reforms ‘rushed through’
The spring statement will see Chancellor Rachel Reeves make further spending cuts to account for the loss of around £9bn in fiscal headroom due to a poor economy and global instability.
The government has denied this is the reason for the welfare package, with Ms Kendall telling Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby she would have announced these measures regardless – as she refused to rule out further cuts.
But Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride told Sky News the reforms were “rushed” through because Ms Reeves “killed the economy” with her October budget.
“That doesn’t make for good policy, particularly in the area of welfare where you do need to take your time and to be thoughtful about it,” he added.
Mel Stride on Sky News Breakfast
PM: Benefits bill ‘devastating’
Sir Keir Starmer has defended the measures, writing in The Times that the 2.8 million working age people out of work due to long-term sickness is a “damning indictment of the Conservative record” on welfare.
He added: “The result is devastating for the public finances. By 2030 we are projected to spend £70bn a year on working-age incapacity and disability benefits alone.”
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