The BBC’s Fiona Bruce put a Conservative MP on the spot on Thursday night when he tried to lay into Keir Starmer over the ongoing freebies row – by reminding him of Boris Johnson’s own donations scandal.
The current prime minister has been under fire for accepting more than £107,000 worth of gifts and hospitality from party donors since 2019, including free tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.
On Wednesday night, he paid back more than £6,000 worth of those freebies, saying it was “right” for him to repay it while the new guidelines for accepting gifts were drawn up.
But, the Conservatives have accused the PM of being transparent only when “his back’s against the wall”.
Over on BBC Question Time, Tory MP Andrew Bowie wasted no time in laying into Starmer over the controversy – so Bruce reminded him about Boris Johnson’s legacy.
Bowie, a shadow minister, claimed that Starmer had accepted a “staggering amount” of donations, “more than double the next closest MP” in a ranked list of those sitting in parliament right now.
Sky News’ Westminster Accounts project found last month that the next MP on the list was Labour MP Lucy Powell, who has declared £40,289 in gifts since 2019.
But, host Bruce cut in on Question Time while Bowie was lambasting the PM, pointing out that Starmer has “not [accepted] as much as Boris Johnson”.
“Well no, Boris Johnson is no longer an MP,” Bowie protested.
“No, but clearly he was leader of your party, and he accepted an awful lot of money, some of it to pay for his own wedding,” Bruce said.
The former PM – who left parliament in June 2023 – made headlines last January for receiving the biggest donation to an MP on record after a single contribution of £1m, six times the previous record.
Johnson also received a donation worth £23,853 from the JCB boss, Anthony Bamford, and his wife Carole, to pay for his wedding marquee and other elements of his 2021 wedding.
But, back on BBC Question Time, Bowie deflected: “Keir Starmer accepted over £107,000.”
He said it was an ongoing debate because Labour donor Lord Alli received a Downing Street pass after the election, and, amid the freebies row, the new government have chosen to restrict the winter fuel payment to those on pension credit.
Bowie said some members of the general public find it “abhorrent” that Starmer, who has been well-paid for years, took these free gifts.
So Bruce hit back: “Presumably your strength of feeling about why does someone who is well paid need someone to buy clothes for them, extended to why does someone who is well paid like [former] PM Boris Johnson need someone to buy them wallpaper?”
The ex-PM took an estimated £52,000 worth of donations to renovation his Downing Street flat in a saga that became known as wallpapergate. Johnson later said he had repaid all the money back.
“I did feel quite strongly about that and you would have to ask Boris Johnson that question,” he said.