Education secretary defends £14k donation as ‘declared properly and thoroughly’

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has defended receiving a donation of £14,000 from a Labour peer embroiled in a freebies row, saying it was “declared properly and thoroughly”.

An article in the Mail on Sunday claimed the minister had used some of the money from Lord Waheed Alli to pay for her 40th birthday party.

But speaking to Sky News from the Labour Party conference, Ms Phillipson insisted the donation paid for two events in a “professional… work context”, with attendees including representatives from the education sector, trade unions and political journalists.

Politics live: Labour wants to ‘move on’ from donations row, says minister

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has come under fire this week for accepting more than £100,000 worth of gifts since becoming party leader in 2019, including tickets to football matches, concerts, and luxury clothes for him and his wife – the latter of which was covered by Lord Alli.

It also emerged Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves had received donations used for purchasing clothes by the long-standing Labour peer.

All three, who declared the donations on their register of interests, have now vowed to no longer accept funds in the future to pay for clothing.

Asked by Sky News’ Trevor Phillips whether they would hand the money back following the backlash, Ms Phillipson said: “Well, if they’ve declared it in line with the rules and they’ve followed [the rules], as very clearly they have, then I see no reason to do so.”

She added: “Look, the reason that we can have this conversation is because colleagues have followed the rules. I’ve followed the rules. I’ve set out in the register of interests what donations were [and] who they were from, and that’s there for the public to see.”

The minister said it was “frustrating” to have to discuss the row as Labour’s conference gets into full swing on Sunday, rather than “the wider agenda”, adding: “Of course, this is a distraction. I’d much rather be talking to you about bigger issues.

“But you know, I’m happy to set out our position very clearly.”

Pushed to explain her own donations from Lord Alli – a television executive who has donated to Labour over the past 20 years – the education secretary 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 second event was an event that I held also again for lobby journalists [and] for people in the education world as part of a reception. It was in a work context.”

She added that she celebrated her “actual 40th birthday” with her family,” saying: “We went for a pizza. I celebrated with my kids.”

Ms Rayner has also come under scrutiny this weekend after the Times reported she had not declared taking a friend on a personal holiday to New York funded by Lord Alli last Christmas.

The deputy prime minister – who is delivering a speech on renter reforms on Sunday – declared her own use of the peer’s apartment on her register of interests, but failed to put that then Labour MP Sam Tarry stayed in the same accommodation.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Rayner said: “I don’t believe I broke any rules. I had the use of the apartment and I disclosed that I had the use of the apartment.

“In fact, I think I was overly transparent because I think it was important despite it being a personal holiday because [Lord Alli], as a friend, had already donated to me in the past for my deputy leadership.”

The row over donations is set to overshadow Labour’s first conference as a governing party in 15 years.

Speaking to the Observer ahead of the first full day of the annual gathering, Sir Keir vowed they were not “going down the road of austerity”, despite the party’s decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance for the majority of pensioners.

But there are still fears of further cuts or tax rises when the chancellor delivers her first Budget in the Commons next month.