Nandy says UK Government shares public’s priorities after clothing donations row
Ministers have sought to end the perception they are leading “very different lives” to the public ahead of Labour’s party conference amid efforts to draw a line under a row about clothing donations to high-profile UK Government figures.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was important to demonstrate the Government’s priorities are “the country’s priorities” after it emerged on the eve of Labour’s annual gathering that clothing donations would no longer be accepted by the Prime Minister and his top brass.
Neither Sir Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner nor Chancellor Rachel Reeves will accept such donations in the future.
Sir Keir and his wife Lady Victoria Starmer had faced scrutiny over the acceptance of gifts, including clothing, from prominent Labour donor and peer Lord Alli.
The Financial Times newspaper meanwhile reported that donations “in kind” listed in the publicly available registers of interest for both Ms Reeves and Ms Rayner had also been for clothing.
The row has drawn criticism from Labour’s political opponents who have sought to contrast the lavish gifts with the Government’s decision to limit the winter fuel payment for all but the poorest pensioners.
Asked about the reasoning behind the decision, Culture Secretary Ms Nandy told BBC Breakfast: “For exactly the reason that you just said, that people are really struggling in this country, and we don’t want people to believe that we are living very different lives from them.
“Most people who go into politics, of all political parties, are ordinary people who want to make people’s lives better.
“It is important to us that people know that that is what we are as a Government and that we have their priorities absolutely up front and centre of ours.
“The country’s priorities are our priorities.”
Ms Nandy said the most important thing the Government had done since coming to office was being “open and transparent about what we are doing”, and maintained Sir Keir had followed the rules on donations.
She earlier told Sky News the Government did not “want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes when we have a really positive agenda for this country”.
The senior minister said she had not received any clothing gifts from donors, but added: “I don’t make any judgment about what other Members of Parliament do.
“The only judgment I would make is, if they are breaking the rules and they are trying to hide what they are doing, that is when problems arise.”
Lord Alli
Sir Keir has accepted around £39,000 from Lord Alli since December 2019.
The FT’s reporting claimed that a donation “in kind” Ms Rayner received from Lord Alli was for clothing, while a donor called Juliet Rosenfeld provided funding for the Chancellor’s wardrobe in four instalments.
Labour Party figures have begun gathering in Liverpool for their first annual conference since winning the general election.
The event is expected to provide the Government with a chance to reset the narrative, as it draws attention to its plans to build more housing, revive the health service and address other areas of public services.
Internal differences over the UK’s future approach to the Middle East conflict, and the winter fuel payment cut, could however prove sticking points for Labour.
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Clothing donations is a huge cover up for:
The Labour Party received its largest-ever donation from a Cayman Islands-registered hedge fund with shares worth hundreds of millions of pounds in oil and arms.
(just before the general election was announced)
Anyone seen Paget Brown and his cousin, I think he was, head of Cayman’s anti-money laundering commission back in the day before Grenfell…
There were two others in the frame with Waheed Ali but only his head’s on the block…
Quadrature and one individual, an ‘angel investor’, claim the donations were values-based and further donations will depend on how close Starmer stays in line whatever the company views as profitable to them…
So the news is they have stopped it after declaring it before the win and all above board but certainly not a good look. Usual suspects press when Boris is mentioned “shhhhhhh” (Dacre, here Boris, have a job at the Mail). Usual suspect press on Truss, great win. Then “shhhhhh” Don’t mention Greensill (oh, did he get a Lord?) Paterson just lost his case at the ECHR as well, sweet? They tried to change the rules for him. Flat refurb, who paid for that an it came to more than Starmer declared “shhhhh” 800k loan arrangement for a PM that… Read more »
The donation was in coin, so the responsibility for the appalling lack of dress sense is entirely the individual’s doing…