PM's £100,000 in tickets and gifts exceed freebies listed by other recent party leaders

Keir Starmer has declared more free tickets and gifts than other major party leaders in recent times, with his total now topping £100,000 after recent support for his lifestyle from the Labour donor Waheed Alli.

- Rowena Mason

The prime minister has accepted almost 40 sets of free tickets in his time as the Labour leader, mostly to football matches but also £4,000 of hospitality at a Taylor Swift concert and £698 worth of Coldplay tickets in Manchester.

He has been criticised this week for the scale of gifts given to him by Lord Alli, who paid for work clothing worth £12,000, accommodation valued at more than £20,000 and glasses valued at £2,485-especially since the donor was temporarily given a pass to No 10 briefly after the election.

Angela Eagle, a minister, struggled to defend the prime minister's decision to accept so many freebies when pressed on Times Radio yesterday.

Asked why he should not buy his own glasses, given his salary, Eagle said: "I'm afraid I'm not responsible for decisions the prime minister makes." She added: "The prime minister has had his say on that. And if you next time you interview him, you could ask him yourself. I don't have an opinion."

Starmer's acceptance of freebies raised eyebrows after the Financial Times reported during the election that he had taken £76,000 worth of hospitality and gifts. Since then, he has declared another £4,000 in Taylor Swift tickets and £20,000 of accommodation from Alli. This was mostly provided during the election campaign but continued one week after he had become prime minister.