Sir Keir Starmer pays back £6,000 worth of gifts – including Taylor Swift tickets

Published

5 months ago

October 2, 2024

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Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality received since taking office, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.

Follow politics latest: Updates on freebies row

It follows weeks of criticism over Sir Keir and his top team accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.

While this has all been declared, opposition parties have accused Labour of hypocrisy, given they vowed to “clean up politics” if they entered government.

Sir Keir said it was “right” that he repaid the gifts while he fleshes out a new set of principles for governing donations, which currently rely on an individual’s judgment.

Speaking to reporters from Brussels, he said: “We came in as a government of change. We are now going to bring forward principles for donations because until now, politicians have used their best individual judgement on a case by case basis.”

He added: “I think we need some principles of general application. So I took the decision that until the principles are in place, it was right for me to make those repayments.”

Sir Keir has already said he will no longer accept donations to pay for clothes.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code.

“Ahead of the publication of the new code, the prime minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members interests.”

Gifts paid for by Sir Keir include four Taylor Swift tickets from Universal Music Group totalling £2,800, two from the Football Association at a cost of £598, and four to Doncaster Races from Arena Racing Corporation at £1,939.

An £839 clothing rental agreement with Edeline Lee, the designer recently worn by his wife to London Fashion Week, along with one hour of hair and make-up, was also covered by the prime minister.

However, Sir Keir has also accepted a further £6,134 in “clothing and personal support” for Lady Starmer in June, from prominent Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli, according to the latest register of interests published on Wednesday.

That is likely to come under scrutiny after it emerged that the Labour peer, and one of the party’s top donors, is facing a House of Lords investigation over “alleged non-registration of interests”, leading to a possible breach of the members’ code of conduct.

Sky News understands that the investigation doesn’t relate to donations but rather a clerical element of already declared interests.

Sir Keir also took £920 from Tottenham Hotspur stadium for two tickets to the north London derby in September, and £1,000 from Arsenal FC for a game in August, according to the register.

He has previously defended his decision to accept hospitality in order to attend football matches, citing security concerns which prevent him from watching from the stands without a large and expensive police presence.

The register also showed that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner declared £836 in hospitality as a “visit to (a) DJ booth” after she was seen partying in Ibiza.

The registration relates to a trip to a nightclub on the Spanish island, where the housing secretary was filmed dancing and being cheered on by the crowd over the summer.

The name of the donor listed on the latest register of interests is Ayita LLC.

Liam Conlon, the Labour MP and son of Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray, accepted two tickets to a Taylor Swift concert from the Premier League, the register shows.

Politics

Sacks and his VC firm sold over $200M in crypto and stocks before WH role

Published

2 hours ago

March 15, 2025

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Sacks and his VC firm sold over 0M in crypto and stocks before WH role

David Sacks and his venture capital firm sold over $200 million in crypto and crypto-related stocks before he commenced his role as the White House AI and crypto czar, a White House memorandum disclosed.

“You and Craft Ventures have divested over $200 million of positions related to the digital asset industry, of which $85 million is directly attributable to you,” said the memorandum dated March 5.

Crypto sell-off in an effort to prevent conflict of interest

The memorandum said “significant steps” were taken to reduce potential conflicts of interest before Sacks began his tenure as the White House AI and crypto czar — in which a major part of his role is to help create a legal framework for the crypto industry.

Sacks offloaded all the “liquid cryptocurrency” in his portfolio, as well as Craft Ventures’ portfolio — the investment firm he co-founded in 2017 — including holdings in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL) before US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

United States, Donald Trump — *The memorandum outlined which cryptocurrencies and crypto-related stocks David Sacks sold prior to Trump’s inauguration. Source:* *The White House*

Since Trump’s inauguration, the crypto market has seen a major decline amid a broader market downturn, with many blaming Trump’s proposed tariffs and uncertainty over US interest rates.

While Bitcoin tapped a new all-time high of $109,000 just hours before Trump was sworn in as the 47th US president, it recently dipped below $80,000 on Feb. 27, erasing all post-election gains. At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $84,155, as per CoinMarketCap data.

Sacks also divested from publicly traded crypto-related firms, including Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD), and stakes in private digital asset companies.

Additionally, he sold his limited partner interest in Solana-focused Multichain Capital and crypto-focused venture capital firm Blockchain Capital. At the same time, Craft Ventures offloaded its holdings in Multichain Capital and Bitwise Asset Management.

Sen. Warren urged Sacks to prove he no longer holds crypto

The memorandum is dated one day before Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren urged Sacks in a March 6 letter to prove he no longer holds any digital assets, following Sacks’ claim in an X post that he sold off all his crypto.

“Despite your public statements via X, it remains unclear exactly when you personally divested from BTC, ETH, and SOL, when Craft Ventures divested from Bitwise, and whether people close to you ‘may have held positions and sold into the recent price surge,” Warren said.

Since Sacks started the White House crypto role, he has been a vocal advocate on various issues in the crypto industry, from the importance of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to not over-taxing the crypto industry.

Sacks recently shut down the idea of crypto transaction taxes on an episode of the All In Podcast after host Jason Calacanis proposed charging a 0.01% tax on every cryptocurrency transaction.

“That’s always how taxes start. They are described as being very modest,” Sacks said.

“You know, when the income tax started, it only applied to like a thousand Americans, and the legislators swore up and down that it would never be applied to middle-class people,” Sacks added.

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Politics

Starmer to host virtual meeting of ‘coalition of the willing’ – and demand ‘concrete commitments’ on Ukraine

Published

3 hours ago

March 15, 2025

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Starmer to host virtual meeting of 'coalition of the willing' - and demand 'concrete commitments' on Ukraine

Sir Keir Starmer will host a virtual meeting of world leaders to discuss peacekeeping in Ukraine, and he will use the call to say that now is the time for “concrete commitments”, Downing Street has said.

Around 25 leaders are expected to join the call on Saturday morning, in which they will discuss in more detail the peacekeeping mission the prime minister has called the ‘coalition of the willing’.

Sir Keir will ask allies to continue to ramp up military support to Ukraine.

He will also say countries need to increase economic pressure on Russia in the short term, and be prepared to support an eventual peace deal over the long term, should an agreement be reached.

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Attendees will also receive an update on the discussions of defence ministers and military chiefs in Paris this week, and they will all set out details of their own efforts to unlock further military support for Ukraine.

Downing Street has confirmed that some European countries, the EU Commission, NATO, Canada, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand are expected to join the virtual meeting.

Starmer: The world needs to see action

In a statement ahead of the call, the prime minister said: “We can’t allow President Putin to play games with President Trump’s deal.

“The Kremlin’s complete disregard for President Trump’s ceasefire proposal only serves to demonstrate that Putin is not serious about peace.

“If Russia finally comes to the table, then we must be ready to monitor a ceasefire to ensure it is a serious and enduring peace, if they don’t, then we need to strain every sinew to ramp up economic pressure on Russia to secure an end to this war.”

He went on to accuse the Russian president of “trying to delay” by “saying there must be a painstaking study before a ceasefire can take place”.

“The world needs to see action, not a study or empty words and pointless conditions,” he continued.

“My message to the Kremlin could not be clearer: stop the barbaric attacks on Ukraine, once and for all, and agree to a ceasefire now. Until then, we will keep working around the clock to deliver peace.”

Sir Keir has said Britain could send peacekeepers to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire deal, but has called on Washington to offer a security ‘backstop’ to those forces.

Russia casts doubt on potential ceasefire

The meeting comes after Ukraine backed the US’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.

But the Russian president has said “lots of questions” remain over that proposal, and that a ceasefire must lead to “long-term peace” which “would remove the initial reasons for the crisis”.

Moscow has reportedly also presented a “list of demands” to the US to end the war, which would include international recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces and an agreement that foreign troops not be deployed in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Mr Putin’s remarks were “very predictable” and “very manipulative”, adding that the Russian president was preparing to reject the ceasefire proposal he agreed with the US.

Politics

UK authorizes charges against NCA officer for alleged Bitcoin theft

Published

7 hours ago

March 14, 2025

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UK authorizes charges against NCA officer for alleged Bitcoin theft

The agency responsible for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales announced that a National Crime Agency (NCA) officer was due to be charged with the alleged theft of Bitcoin worth roughly $75,000 in 2017.

In a March 14 notice, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had authorized the Merseyside Police to charge NCA officer Paul Chowles with 15 offenses related to the alleged Bitcoin (BTC) theft “during an investigation into online organized crime.” Authorities said Chowles could face one count of theft, 11 charges for concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property and three counts for acquiring, using or possessing criminal property.

The 50 Bitcoin, worth roughly $75,000 before the December 2017 bull run, was valued at more than $4.2 million at the time of publication at a BTC price of $84,541. The NCA officer is expected to appear at the Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on April 25.

In April 2024, amendments to the UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act authorized NCA officers and local police to seize crypto from suspected criminals without arresting them. The Crown Prosecution Service did not mention how Chowles allegedly stole the Bitcoin or whether the funds were connected to illicit activities.

Crypto policies across the pond

The NCA said in December 2024 that it had seized roughly $26 million in cash and crypto and arrested 84 people as part of a global campaign to fight money laundering and organized crime. Some of the crypto addresses targeted by UK authorities at the time “showed regular exposure to Garantex.” The founder of the Russian crypto exchange was arrested in India in March and is expected to be extradited to the US to face criminal charges.

The UK government is expected to move forward on creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in 2025 following the Labour government’s election victory. The country remains a significant market for crypto users, with Coinbase securing approval to operate from the financial regulatory body in February.

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