Labour peer Lord Alli at centre of Starmer freebies row under Lords investigation for possible code breaches
2 October 2024, 16:06 | Updated: 2 October 2024, 17:45
Lord Waheed Alli, the Labour donor at the centre of the row over freebies, is under investigation by the House of Lords.
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The Labour peer is being probed by the Lords' commissioner over "alleged non-registration of interests", leading to a possible breach of the members' code of conduct.
A complaint was made last week about Alli, who gave tens of thousands of pounds of clothes and glasses to Keir Starmer and his wife, and other senior Labour ministers, as well as other gifts.
Starmer and others have defended the donations, which Labour say were made within the rules.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels on Wednesday Starmer refused to comment on an investigation into his top donor saying it will "run its course".
Alli is required to register his interests as a member of the House of Lords, in line with the parliamentary code of conduct.
Read more: Keir Starmer faces investigation after failing to declare gifts to wife from party donor
The peer has donated more than £500,000 to the party over the past two decades.
The television tycoon was also given a security pass to Number 10 Downing Street shortly after Labour's election victory.
As well as his clothing donations, Starmer accepted £20,000 from Alli in the form of the use of his Covent Garden flat, for his teenager son to study for exams in a "peaceful" atmosphere.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and deputy PM Angela Rayner were also given money for clothes by Alli. Rayner was given the use of his Manhattan flat for New Year's Eve, as well as clothes.
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Sir Keir said last week: "I understand why the public have questions about this. I think the best thing we can do is to explain the circumstances and be absolutely clear that nothing wrong has been done here.
"Everybody has complied with all of the rules. Sometimes it takes time to go through the individual examples, which may or may not put the context for people to see and make their own judgments."
According to the parliamentary rules, peers must register “all relevant interests, in order to make clear what are the interests that might reasonably be thought to influence their parliamentary actions”.
The code of conduct also says: “Members are responsible for ensuring that their registered interests are accurate and up-to-date. They should register any change in their relevant interests within one month of the change”.
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The SNP has previously asked for an investigation into Alli's donations to the PM and Labour MPs.
After news of the investigation into Alli emerged on Wednesday, the party's Cabinet Office spokesman Brendan O'Hara MP said: "I welcome the announcement of this investigation, following calls from the SNP. The Labour Party freebies scandal has wrecked public confidence in Keir Starmer, his government and the Westminster system, and there must be full transparency and accountability.
"It's now essential that in addition to this narrow inquiry, there is a full investigation by standards commissioners and the independent adviser on ministers' interests into all the donations made by Lord Alli to Labour MPs and the subsequent granting of a Downing Street security pass.
He said that voters were "appalled" by the extent of the donations, adding: "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."
A Labour spokesman said: "Lord Alli will co-operate fully with the Lords Commissioner and he is confident all interests have been registered.
"We cannot comment further while this is ongoing."
