2 weeks Ago By David Maddox
The prime minister looks set to avoid an embarrassing investigation into a failure to declare a donation by a Labour peer to pay for dresses for his wife Victoria . Keir Starmer was facing questions over the £5,000 donation from Lord Waheed Alli which he initially failed to put on his register of interests. The peer, a leading Labour donor , received a high level security pass for Downing Street in the weeks after the election and made a donation to Sir Keir of accommodation over several weeks worth more than £20,000.
The prime minister has insisted his team had reached out for advice on what declaration should be made and that rules are being followed. Tory chairman Andrew Griffith had asked the parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg to investigate a potential breach in the rules. He wrote: "There must be a full investigation into this scandal given this is not the first instance of the prime minister failing to declare donations and abiding by parliamentary rules.
"It beggars belief that the prime minister thinks it's acceptable that pensioners on £13,000 a year can afford to heat their home when he earns 12 times that but apparently can't afford to clothe himself or his wife. "While his top team want a taxpayer-funded clothes budget to look sharp, people across the country are forced to make tough choices in the face of Labour's damaging decisions,” he continued. "Labour promised change, but in 10 short weeks all they've delivered is a change of clothes for themselves.
Labour have made the political choice to put themselves and their union paymasters before the most vulnerable." But Downing Street has said that after discussions the commissioner has decided not to investigate. This is not the first time Sir Keir has been late in his declarations and broken the rules.
In 2022 the then commissioner decided not to refer him to the committee when as Labour leader he admitted to eight late declarations including the sale of a plot of land that exceeded the £100,000 threshold for registration. The Tories also pointed out that Labour had demanded an investigation into donations to Boris and Carrie Johnson to put up wallpaper in Downing Street..
