Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended her £14,000 donation from a Labour MP on Sky News at a crucial time for the country with the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners and uncertainty over the budget.
The article in the Mail claimed Phillipson had used some of Lord Waheed Alli’s donations to pay for her 40th birthday party. Speaking to Sky News from the Labour Party conference, she said the donation went to pay for two professional events.
It was used to fund two events, all of which were declared properly and thoroughly. That’s why that information is in the public domain. The first event was ahead of my birthday, so I was turning 40. I thought it was a good opportunity to get people together in a professional context, so it was journalists, trade unionists, education people, MPs and shadow cabinet. The second event was an event that I held also again for lobby journalists [and] for people in the education world as part of a reception. It was in a work context, she explained.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced similar condemnation last week. Since taking over as party leader in 2019, he had accepted gifts worth more than £100,000 including tickets to football matches, concerts and luxury clothing for himself and his wife. Some of the donations refer to Lord Alli. He has handed £314,147 to senior party figures in a series of donations spanning almost two decades, including more than £16,000 for the Prime Minister’s suits and glasses.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have also received donations from Lord Alli in the past. They, including Starmer, who declared the donations on their register of interests, have now vowed not to accept any more funds in the future to pay for clothes.
Education secretary Phillipson, when asked if she intended to do the same, said:
Well, if they’ve declared it in line with the rules and they’ve followed [the rules], as very clearly they have, then I see no reason to do so. Look, the reason that we can have this conversation is because colleagues have followed the rules. I’ve followed the rules. I’ve set out in the register of interests what donations were [and] who they were from, and that’s there for the public to see.
The dispute over donations is likely to overshadow the Labour Party’s first conference as the governing party in 15 years. The donations row is a particularly sensitive topic for a Labour government on the back of the abolition of the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners. On top of that, there is still the risk of facing further cuts or tax rises. In consequence, such news might come to represent a lacklustre attitude on the part of the public and many may turn away from Labour.
