Starmer tightens ministerial transparency rules after donations row

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday set out a code of conduct for ministers aimed at improving transparency after he was caught in a row over lawmakers accepting gifts such as clothes and Taylor Swift concert tickets.

The government had promised tighter rules after revelations about the hospitality that senior figures from Starmer’s Labour Party had received, which contributed to a slide in his popularity since a landmark election win in July. The new code will require ministers to declare hospitality and gifts monthly rather than quarterly, bringing it in line with the rules for other lawmakers.

It also gives more powers to the prime minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, removing the PM’s veto over their work.

Starmer had promised a new set of principles for lawmakers on accepting donations after he repaid thousands of pounds of gifts including the cost of tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in London and said he would not accept donations to pay for clothing anymore.

While new language on hospitality noted that sometimes ministers had to attend events in an official capacity, it repeated phrasing used by the previous government that ministers shouldn’t accept hospitality that might “compromise their judgement or place them under any obligation to people... that might try inappropriately to influence their work in government.”

“This is primarily a matter of judgement for ministers who are personally responsible for deciding how to act and conduct themselves in light of the Code,” the new ministerial code said.