Industry minister Sarah Jones suggested Sir Keir and other Labour frontbenchers took free tickets to concerts and festivals while in opposition to “build relationships” with businesses. It included Sir Keir’s £2,800 trip to see Taylor Swift and Glastonbury tickets worth more than £3,000 accepted from Google by business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
But Ms Jones said: “There is a difference between government and opposition when you’re building relationships in opposition, it’s different when you’re a government minister with real levers of power.”
Ms Jones was sent out to defend Sir Keir’s decision to pay back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality. The move, which followed weeks of criticism of Labour ministers over freebies, was made as an updated register of MPs’ interests revealed thousands of pounds of additional freebies accepted by Sir Keir’s top team.
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