Rachel Reeves thrown under bus by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander as minister fails to back her after the Chancellor accepted £276 Sabrina Carpenter concert tickets
Rachel Reeves suffered another blow yesterday when a Cabinet colleague failed to back her over her expensive freebies.
Rachel Reeves suffered another blow yesterday when a Cabinet colleague failed to back her over her expensive freebies.
The Chancellor was cut adrift by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who said she had never taken free tickets since becoming an MP and was too busy working to attend concerts.
Ms Reeves sparked fury at the weekend by admitting she had accepted £600 seats in a VIP box to attend a Sabrina Carpenter concert at The O2 arena in London while preparing to slash billions from public spending.
It can also be revealed that, as well as going to a pop concert with a family member this month, she accepted a theatre freebie over the Christmas holidays.
Ms Reeves, who is paid £67,505 as Chancellor on top of her £91,346 MPs salary, declared receiving tickets worth £276 for the National Theatre on Londons South Bank on December 27.
Showing that day were Oscar Wildes comedy The Importance Of Being Earnest and an adaptation of classic childrens novel Ballet Shoes.
Asked yesterday if the Chancellors decision felt right, Ms Alexander replied: I havent taken any tickets to be honest since I was elected in July as a new Member of Parliament and going straight into the Ministry of Justice and then coming straight into the Department for Transport.
I actually sadly havent been to see any concerts at all over the last nine months, partly because Ive been very, very busy.
Asked if she would take tickets, Ms Alexander told Times Radio: As a Member of Parliament, Ive never accepted tickets to any concerts or anything like that.
Ms Reeves sparked fury at the weekend by admitting she had accepted £600 seats in a VIP box to attend a Sabrina Carpenter concert at The O2 arena in London while preparing to slash billions from public spending
Britains Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander visit a local mechanics business, following the British governments announcement of investments to maintain roads across the UK
Pressed as to whether it was because she felt it was not right to do so, she said: Partly because Ive got a very busy diary and Ive got to prioritise my time and, you know, when Ive got time off, actually spending some time with my family and my husband is actually a more attractive option to me.
Tory MP Gareth Davies said: I know Labour said they are keen to prioritise buses but I didnt think that would mean the Transport Secretary throwing the Chancellor under one.
The Transport Secretary is too busy to accept free concert tickets but the Chancellor isnt?
A Tory source added: Reeves needs to come clean and reveal how she came to get these freebies.
She seems to be more focused on jollies than fixing the mistakes of her budget. Its no wonder she needs an emergency budget.
Its a slap in the face to working people that she doesnt seem fussed the economy is tanking, business confidence is shot and taxes are at record highs. It shows just how out of touch she is.
A spokesman for Ms Reeves did not respond to questions about the freebies.
The Chancellor has cited security arrangements as her reason for taking the free tickets for the Sabrina Carpenter show in a box of AEG, the arenas owner, and said she would declare their value to the parliamentary authorities.
She insisted she requires close protection as a Cabinet minister, adding: I do now have security which means its not as easy as it wouldve been in the past to just sit in a concert.
Ms Reeves was also given a Harrods hamper worth £200 from the Qatari Embassy but the register of ministers gifts and hospitality states that it was used for hospitality rather than being kept by her or HM Treasury.
Sabrina Carpenter performs onstage during the Sabrina Carpenter Short n Sweet Tour at Barclays Center
However, she accepted the show tickets while most other ministers stopped taking freebies in the wake of the scandal that erupted when it emerged Sir Keir Starmer and half a dozen senior Labour figures had enjoyed free seats to see Taylor Swift last summer.
Asked yesterday if Sir Keir thought Ms Reeves had taken the right decisions in relation to hospitality, his official spokesman said: Obviously, the Prime Minister supports all of his ministers making their own judgments in relation to these matters as per the ministerial code.
Questioned whether the PM thinks it is acceptable for ministers to accept lavish corporate hospitality amid looming spending cuts in tomorrows Spring Statement, the spokesman said the Government had strengthened the rules for ministerial gifts to ensure transparency.
He added that it was primarily a matter of judgment for ministers that are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves and said it is up to ministers to ensure they are meeting the updated rules and the code.
Labour peer Lord Sikka yesterday wrote on social media: UK politicians taking gifts, freebies, donations, is nothing new. It is corrosive. Donors expect a return – access to policymakers, ministers, crony contracts, lax laws. Must criminalise the receiving/giving of all political donations in any form.
Ms Reeves was also embroiled last month in a row over expenses claims at her previous job.
The BBC reported she and other managers at Halifax Bank of Scotland had been accused of using company money to fund a lifestyle of dinners, events and gifts. But she insisted no one ever raised concerns about my expenses.
Sir Keir was engulfed in a freebies row last year after it emerged he was handed by Labour peer Lord Alli thousands of pounds worth of suits and glasses while Leader of the Opposition.
Deputy Leader Angela Rayner also received £3,550 worth of work clothes from the millionaire donor, according to the MPs register of interests last year.
She had previously declared the gift from Lord Alli as a donation in kind for undertaking parliamentary duties but she then disclosed on the Parliamentary Register of Interests the purpose was for work-related clothing used while undertaking my duties.
In the wake of the controversy, Sir Keir, Ms Rayner and Ms Reeves vowed to no longer accept donations of clothing.
MP Rosie Duffield, who quit Labour last September in protest at the freebies scandal, said: It is almost impossible to believe that these things are still carrying on.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed yesterday that all MPs pay will reach £93,904 next month.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said their salaries would rise by 2.8 per cent in a decision that was in line with pay recommendations for public sector staff.
But John OConnell, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: Despite overseeing a soaring tax burden and crumbling public services, Britains politicians are once again being rewarded despite their litany of failures. MPs pay should be tied to GDP per capita so that their earnings rise only when the country prospers.