UK govt to introduce new principles for gifts to lawmakers

The United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repaid the cost of gifts and hospitality he has received since becoming national leader in July, following criticism and heightened scrutiny of political donations.

Starmer has paid back 6,000 pounds ($7,870) and acknowledged it was "right" to do so following weeks of intense criticism directed at him and his Cabinet for accepting tens of thousands of pounds of freebies from wealthy donors.

Gifts Starmer has repaid include Taylor Swift tickets from Universal Music Group worth 2,800 pounds, Football Association tickets to soccer matches worth 598 pounds, and Doncaster racecourse tickets from Arena Racing Corporation worth 1,939 pounds.

The prime minister has said his Labour Party government will introduce new principles for donations, acknowledging that politicians have previously relied on individual judgment.

UK lawmakers are allowed to accept gifts from donors but must declare them.

"I think we need some principles of general application," he told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday. "So, I took the decision that until the principles are in place, it was right for me to make those repayments."

Downing Street emphasized that Starmer was not setting any rules that prohibit ministers from accepting future hospitality, but rather that repaying the amounts was deemed appropriate while new guidelines for hospitality were being developed.

A spokesperson for the prime minister 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' (financial) interests."

Industry Minister Sarah Jones told Sky News that the prime minister had repaid the funds in an effort win back public trust in politicians.

She said: "We need to do more to make people trust politicians because politics can be a force for good. That is the whole driving value of what Keir Starmer is about, and that's what he's going to do."

The government has established a cross-party committee to review and modernize parliamentary standards and procedures.

The prime minister decided to reimburse the money following a period of intense scrutiny over his acceptance of more than 100,000 pounds in hospitality and complimentary gifts since December 2019, reported The Guardian newspaper.

This included 32,000 pounds worth of work clothing, several pairs of glasses valued at 2,400 pounds, and access to an 18-million-pound penthouse provided by Labour Party donor and peer Waheed Alli.

In response to the controversy, Starmer, along with his deputy Angela Rayner and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, have all declared they will no longer accept any free clothing.