Three senior Labour MPs accepted gifts worth more than £70,000, CBJ Target can reveal.    

Among the most notable are those received by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

The prime minister has declared more free tickets and gifts than other party leaders in recent years.  

Our investigation found that Starmer accounted for more than two-thirds of all gifts declared by the three Labour politicians analysed.

These included a private box for four people at Epsom Downs Racecourse, with catering and admission tickets totalling £3,716, five tickets and hospitality to Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal at a cost of £2,500, and multiple pairs of glasses at £2,485.  

The Premier League is one of the biggest donors of hospitality, and Sir Keir - a renowned Arsenal fan - has received almost £18,500 in tickets within the year-long period. 

Despite all gifts being declared under parliamentary rules, the scale and nature of the perks have prompted concerns about transparency. 

Tom Caygill, a senior professor of politics at Nottingham Trent University, said that the controversy highlights a growing issue in UK politics, he said: “Thousands of pounds on designer glasses and suits, doesn’t match with Labour’s voter base and the position the country is currently finds itself in with the cost of living. 

“The grey area between what gifts should be accepted is too large. Either it should be allowed or scrapped. The main issue is that we don’t trust our politicians anymore, we just presume the worst. 

“What these figures have done isn’t wrong, it's the perception of what they have done that matters. The public has little tolerance, with trust and support at an all-time low.” 

Currently, MPs must register any gifts, benefits or hospitality with a value of over £300 that they receive from a UK source, within 28 days. 

Under the previous system, implemented during the Conservative government, ministers were not required to disclose the value of gifts or hospitality, and the register was updated only a few times a year. 

The updated code gives Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministers' interests, the power to launch investigations into breaches of the ministerial code, replacing the previous requirement for prime ministerial approval. 

After castigating the Conservatives for poor standards in office, current Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves faced her own scrutiny over the acceptance of gifts totaling a staggering £7584.

It emerged that Reeves enjoyed corporate hospitality at Wimbledon valued at £1,815 and show tickets to various performances worth £1,200.  

Additionally, she also received a designer Anya Hindmarch bag worth £1,250, containing cosmetics, stationery, and other items from a Founders Forum event. 

The revelations of high-value gifts accepted by senior politicians have sparked widespread public backlash. 

A recent CBJ poll revealed that 41 per cent of respondents strongly support banning MPs from accepting high-value gifts, while only 50 per cent believe existing transparency rules are adequate. 

Among Labour supporters, 64 per cent expressed disappointment, viewing the findings as inconsistent with the party’s promise to restore integrity in politics. 

Lucy Powell, who herself accepted £15,945 in donated gifts while she was in the opposition, claims most of her entries on the MP register were for events she attended in her official role as shadow culture secretary. 

Standout items among the donations given to her were hospitality for two at the Grand National as guests of the Jockey Club valued at £1,800, as well as invitations to the British Grand Prix priced at £6,088. 

Christopher Woodard, a leading expert in moral and political philosophy at the University of Nottingham offered an in-depth perspective on the ethical implications of MPs accepting gifts and the delicate balance between public interest and an MP's right to privacy.  

Christopher said: “MPs would have the same right to privacy as everyone else were it not for the fact that there are special reasons for knowing more about MPs in a democracy. 

“It seems to me that these reasons have to do with the effectiveness and honesty of the MPs we elect. So, I think there is a public interest in knowing about things that bear on an MP’s honesty or effectiveness, but not in knowing other things about them.” 

When addressing the motivations behind gift-giving, he added: “There is an ethical distinction between gifts given as goodwill gestures and those given with ulterior motives but that doesn’t mean it is always right to accept one and refuse the other.  

“Even gifts given with good intentions should sometimes be refused, for example, if accepting them would encourage cynicism about politics.” 

Various MPs were contacted from the Labour Party for a response but none had replied at the time of publication.