Bridget Phillipson MP defends using money from Lord Alli

Education Secretary and MP for Houghton and Sunderland South Bridget Phillipson has said that the use of money from Lord Alli to fund a reception to mark her 40th birthday was “in a work context” with guests including journalists and trade unionists and “education people”.

This comes after reports about senior Labour politicians accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts from donors.

Education Secretary and MP for Houghton and Sunderland South Bridget Phillipson (Image: James Manning) Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said she understood why people were “frustrated” and “angry” that figures including Sir Keir Starmer had received thousands of pounds in gifts.

But she added these had been “a feature of our politics for a very long time”, arguing that donations were necessary because of the expense of running for office, and stressing the importance of transparency.

Ms Rayner has herself been criticised for staying in a flat owned by Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli while on holiday in New York but denied breaking any Commons rules about declaring the gift.

In a list published on Friday, several Labour MPs, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, are listed as having received gifts.

The Prime Minister’s love of football was also confirmed by the list as he was gifted tickets to 12 games in the past year, the majority of which involved Arsenal.

Four Taylor Swift hospitality tickets, £16,200 worth of clothes from Lord Waheed Ali and tickets to the Jingle Bell Ball are also included in his registered interests.

Elsewhere in his registered interests, it shows Sir Keir was gifted accommodation for four people in the Gower Peninsula in August last year, which cost £4,500.

Sir Keir also received four tickets to see the National Theatre production of Nye, which focused on the end of former health secretary Aneurin Bevan’s life.