Angela Rayner’s Ibiza DJ booth party revealed to be £836 freebie
3 October 2024, 08:28
Angela Rayner’s trip to an Ibiza nightclub where she was spotted partying in a DJ booth has been revealed to be a freebie worth hundreds of pounds.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
In the latest register of MPs’ financial interests revealed on Wednesday, the deputy prime minister declared she received £836 of hospitality on her ‘visit to (a) DJ booth’ at nightclub Hi Ibiza.
It was paid for by Ayita LLC, which is the agent of DJ Fisher, who she was filmed dancing with.
Ms Rayner did pay for flights and accomodation herself during the four-day visit.
She received some criticism over the video, and told Sky News: “I take my job really seriously, and I’m always in parliament doing what needs to be done.
Read more: Doctor charged in connection with death of Friends icon Matthew Perry pleads guilty
Angela Rayner lives it up in Ibiza
“You’ve got to have downtime... I’m working class, I like a dance.”
Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since entering Number 10 after a row over ministerial donations.
The Prime Minister is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.
It comes after Sir Keir and other Cabinet members - who vowed to "clean up" British politics - faced weeks of criticism for accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.
The Prime Minister has committed to overhauling hospitality rules for ministers to ensure better transparency about what is provided following the backlash.
On Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code.
"Ahead of the publication of the new code, the Prime Minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members' interests."
Gifts paid for by Sir Keir include four Taylor Swift tickets from Universal Music Group totalling £2,800, two from the Football Association at a cost of £598, and four to Doncaster Races from Arena Racing Corporation at £1,939.
An £839 clothing rental agreement with Edeline Lee, the designer recently worn by his wife to London Fashion Week, along with one hour of hair and makeup, was also covered by the Prime Minister.
Questions about donations intensified on Wednesday, after it emerged that long-standing Labour backer Lord Waheed Alli was under investigation by Parliament's standards watchdog over an alleged failure to register interests.
As the probe threatened to overshadow the Prime Minister's trip to Brussels, where he was meeting EU figures as part of his bid to "reset" Britain's relations with Europe, Sir Keir said it was "right" for him to repay the cost of some gifts.
He told reporters travelling with him to Belgium: "We came in as a government of change.
"We are now going to bring forward principles for donations because, until now, politicians have used their best individual judgment on a case-by-case basis. I think we need some principles of general application.
"So, I took the position that until the principles are in place it was right for me to make those repayments."
However, Sir Keir has also accepted a further £6,134 in "clothing and personal support" for Lady Starmer in June, from Lord Alli, according to the latest register of interests published on Wednesday.
That declaration is likely to come under scrutiny after it emerged earlier on Wednesday that the peer is facing a probe by the Lords' commissioner over a potential breach of the members' code of conduct.
The watchdog said it was looking at an "alleged non-registration of interests" by the former media executive.
Labour has said the peer will "cooperate fully" with the probe and is "confident all interests have been registered".
