Keir Starmer to be investigated by Westminster watchdog over earnings and gifts
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is being investigated by Westminster’s standards watchdog over potential breaches of parliamentary rules for declaring gifts and earnings.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has revealed that it opened an investigation into Starmer last week for potentially breaking two rules.
The commissioner’s website says the Labour leader is being probed on a potential breach around not declaring outside employment and a further breach of rules surrounding gifts, hospitality and benefits.
Morning Wire understands that the investigation concerns several items that were declared to the commissioner, but were done a couple days past the set deadline.
This included complimentary Premier League football tickets and payments for a new book he’s writing.
Starmer told ITV that he was “absolutely confident there’s no problem here”.
A spokesperson for Starmer said: “Keir Starmer takes his declaration responsibilities very seriously and has already apologised for the fact that administrative errors in his office have led to a small number of late declarations. The Standards Commissioner has asked for more information which we are happy to provide.”
It comes as Starmer is also being investigated by Durham Police over whether he broke Covid rules when he was pictured having a beer and a curry while at a local party office during a by-election campaign.
Starmer has said he will resign if the police hand him a fine over the incident.
Critics of the Labour leader will likely jump on the investigation by the Westminster watchdog as an example of hypocrisy, after Starmer attacked Boris Johnson over an investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog last year.
The Prime Minister was investigated over undeclared gifts stemming from his 2019 holiday to the Caribbean island of Mustique, however he was not found to be in breach of the rules.