Labour donor Lord Alli breached parliamentary rules, watchdog finds

Published

11 months ago

October 23, 2024

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Labour donor Lord Alli breached four parliamentary rules over his registration of interests, a standards watchdog has found.

Sir Keir Starmer’s largest donor was found to have failed to include all his roles at a charity, did not register he had a controlling interest in a media company and did not register he was a director of a British Virgin Islands-based firm in time.

This is unrelated to questions over his donations to politicians such as the prime minister and other ministers.

Lords Commissioner for Standards Martin Jelley said the breaches were “minor”.

Lord Alli, a TV executive who has given more than £700,000 to Labour over the past 20 years, was recommended to write a letter of apology to the chair of the Lords’ conduct committee, Baroness Manningham-Buller.

In his letter, he wrote: “I am writing to you today to offer my apology for my breach of conduct by not registering my interests correctly.

“I will endeavour to keep to the Code of Conduct at all times to avoid such circumstances again.”

The first breach said Lord Alli should have registered himself as an unremunerated director of The Charlie Parsons Foundation, as well as a trustee.

He helped set up the charity in 2011 with Charlie Parsons, who created the Survivor reality TV series, to invest in “new talent, new projects and new business ideas”, mainly in the TV and entertainment industry.

The second breach found Lord Alli removed himself prematurely as a “person with significant control” of Silvergate BP Bidco Limited, the production company that produces the Peter Rabbit television programme.

He also prematurely removed his entry saying he had a “shareholding amounting to a controlling interest” in the company.

The fourth breach was the late registration as an unremunerated director of MAC (BVI) Limited, an offshore British Virgin Islands subsidiary of 450 PLC, an investment firm based in tax haven Jersey Lord Alli had declared he was a chairman for.

Lord Alli previously said the omission was an “unintentional error” and he “had not realised” until he was asked by journalists in September.

The peer came under scrutiny in September over the tens of thousands of pounds he has given to Labour MPs to cover clothes, holidays and work events.

According to data unveiled by Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project, he gave Sir Keir more than £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.

The PM, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and deputy PM Angela Rayner have said they will no longer accept donations to pay for clothes following the backlash.

Politics

UK health officials push back on US president’s claim paracetamol is linked to autism

Published

2 hours ago

September 23, 2025

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UK health officials push back on US president's claim paracetamol is linked to autism

UK health experts and officials have pushed back on Donald Trump’s claim that paracetamol is linked to autism, saying there is “no evidence” for it.

The US president said on Monday that there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autism and suggested that the use of Tylenol – an American-branded version of paracetamol – during pregnancy is a potential cause.

His claims have been widely corrected by officials, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who said that “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this”.

Read more: What is autism?

Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Mr Streeting said: “I’ve just got to be really clear about this: there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. None.”

The health secretary then referenced a major study in Sweden last year that involved 2.4 million children, adding it “did not uphold those claims”.

He added: “I would just say to people watching, don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.

“In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS.”

WHO says links ‘inconsistent’

Patient safety minister Dr Zubir Ahmed MP echoed this on social media, saying: “For the avoidance of any doubt, Paracetamol remains the safest painkiller to take during pregnancy.”

Dr Alison Cave, chief safety officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, also said that “there is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children”.

She added that paracetamol “remains the recommended pain relief option for pregnant women when used as directed,” and that the MHRA’s advice “is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence”.

The British officials were supported by the European Medicines Agency, which said there was no new evidence that would mean its recommendations for the use of paracetamol during pregnancy would change.

Tarik Jasarevic, a World Health Organisation spokesperson, added at a press briefing that the links between the use of the drug and autism “remains inconsistent”.

Trump: Tylenol ‘not good’ for pregnant women

During a press conference with US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Mr Trump urged pregnant women to stop taking Tylenol.

After saying that Mr Kennedy Jr “wants to be very careful with what he says,” the US president added: “Taking Tylenol is not good. All right. I’ll say it. It’s not good.

“For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. That’s, for instance, in cases of extremely high fever, that you feel you can’t tough it out. You can’t do it. I guess there’s that.”

Mr Trump then said key vaccinations for newborn babies should be delayed, that combined measles, mumps and rubella jabs should be given separately, and suggested that they are linked to autism.

“They pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies, it’s a disgrace,” he added. “I don’t see it. I think it’s very bad.”

Mr Jasarevic pushed strongly back on that claim, saying: “We know that vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines, as I
said, save countless lives.

“So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned.”