I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, but…

…You might not be able to watch Arsenal anymore!

Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of The United Kingdom, came into power on the 5th of July. In his first speech as Prime Minister, he said that his party had been given a mandate to ‘deliver change’ and ‘to restore service and respect to politics’. It was meant to be the end of cronyism. The end of constant news stories of government ministers and officials saying or doing the wrong thing. How could it go wrong so quickly?

I refer to the recent revelations about the number of gifts Sir Keir has received since 2019. Over £107,000 of them – more than double the next Member of Parliament (MP) on the list.

The gifts causing the most concern are linked to the Premier League. Honestly, when the Government is seeking to bring in an independent football regulator, a regulator that several Premier League clubs oppose, it does seem like there could be a problem.

My stance on this type of event being dredged through the news bulletins day in and day out would usually be – who cares? The country has much larger problems than the Prime Minister accepting some free tickets to see an Arsenal game or Taylor Swift. However, this time I think the media fuss is necessary to hold MPs to account. Especially after the shambolic performances of the last few Conservative governments.

It brings to mind the question – why should anyone in public office, whether an MP, a civil servant or the Prime Minister be able to accept gifts? Cynically, I assume the gifts are given to buy favour in some way, even if it isn’t directly from the recipient. Therefore, a total ban would help to prevent corruption.

There is another side to the argument. At the moment these gifts are allowed so long as they are declared within a certain timeframe along with a few other stipulations. If we removed this legal route to receive gifts where they can be scrutinised by the media and public, then maybe it is much more likely that behind-the-scenes deals and pay-offs could occur. Transparency is often king.

Despite the counter-argument above, I believe the giving of gifts to elected officials – and those unelected in the civil service – should be banned. One exception could be when exchanging gifts with a foreign head of state during visits.

It is a peculiar situation that Sir Keir Starmer didn’t initially realise how this would look to the public. He then doubled down on it later claiming that he accepted the hospitality because security costs would be too high for him to sit in the stands during an Arsenal home game.

Well, I’m sorry, Prime Minister, but maybe you could just sacrifice seeing the Arsenal game this time! After all, you did say, ‘When the gap between the sacrifices made by people and the service they receive from politicians grows this big. It leads to a weariness in the heart of a nation.’