Wes Streeting has admitted to using Lord Alli’s home, saying he hosted a fundraising event there attended by Sir Ian McKellen.
The Health Secretary was joined by Labour MP for Spen Valley Kim Leadbeater at the event with 20 to 30 guests at the reception in March 2022, which raised £20,000 in donations for the party.
The reception hosted by Streeting at the Covent Garden flat prompted speculation in circles within the party that he was preparing for a leadership bid in case Sir Keir stood down for any reason.
Leadbetter split the money raised at the event equally with Streeting. A spokesman for the MP told The Telegraph: “It was all declared at the time and it was perfectly legitimate.” GB News has approached Streeting for a comment.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has defended using a house owned by Lord Alli for a video urging people to work from home during the Covid pandemic.
Sir Keir Starmer said the idea it was his home was “farcical” despite there being photos of his family and Christmas cards behind him during the recording, made in December 2021 during the Omicron variant wave. Instead of it being recorded at his home in north London, it was filmed at Lord Alli’s flat in Covent Garden, central London.
Speaking to journalists in New York during a visit to the United Nations, Sir Keir said: “Anybody who thinks that I was pretending it was my own home, the idea that I’ve got Union Jacks by my fireplace at home or that I would invite a bunch of you lot into my living room to have a look around… the idea that I was trying to pretend that it was my home is pretty farcical.
“And no, I’m not going to be inviting you in to film me in front of my fireplace. I’m very sorry, that’s about the last thing I’d do.”
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Reeves to consider abandoning crackdown on non-doms
Rachel Reeves Getty
Labour included a pledge to end the tax perk for wealthy residents who are domiciled overseas in its manifesto, hoping the policy would raise £1 billion a year.
However, treasury officials are concerned that the move will force so many wealthy foreigners to leave that the measure will backfire.
Government officials said they would consider changing the details of the policy to make it less punishing to non-doms, with reducing the amount of inheritance tax they would have to pay thought to be one of the options under consideration.