A cabinet minister has been forced to defend allowing a millionaire Labour donor to pay for her 40th birthday party.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson was told it “looks dodgy” that Lord Alli funded the bash, which was held at the upmarket Cinnamon Club restaurant in Westminster last December.
However, on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News this morning, she insisted it had been a work event and that even her own family were not in attendance.
According to the Houghton and Sunderland South MP’s register of interests, she received £14,000 from Lord Alli.
Asked by Phillips what the money was for, Phillipson said: “It was used to fund two events, all of which was declared properly and thoroughly, that’s why that information is in the public domain.
“The first event was ahead of my birthday. So I was turning 40, I thought it was a good opportunity to get people together in a professional context. So it was journalists, trade unionists, education people, MPs and shadow cabinet.”
The presenter replied: “That’s a very nice thing, but if a Tory had done that two years ago, I know exactly what you would be saying to me this morning - they should pay for their own birthday parties.”
Phillipson responded: “Look, this was in a work context. My own family didn’t come to that, it was in a work context.
“I celebrated my actual 40th birthday with my family. We went for a pizza, I celebrated with my kids.
“This was where I got together colleagues, journalists actually, trade unionists, education people. It was in a very different kind of context.
″[Lord Alli] is a Labour peer, he’s been a Labour peer for over 25 years. This is fully transparent.”
But Phillips told her: “I think we might be digging a slightly bigger hole here. You’ve got a lot of people who knew you might be the education secretary and you’ve got them in a room. You’re paying them to lobby you.
“To the average viewer, it feels dodgy. It feels like this is now an event for lobbyists.”
Phillipson said: “No, that’s absolutely not what it was. This was an opportunity for people to come together to have a reception so we can talk about, for example, issues around education.
“These kinds of things happen regularly. It was all declared in line with the rules and fully transparent.”
The clash came amid an ongoing row over senior Labour figures, including Keir Starmer, receiving hospitality from, among others, Lord Alli.