I had to take freebies for my son, says Starmer

Labour leader defends decision to use Lord Alli’s £18m penthouse and take free football tickets

Sir Keir Starmer has defended taking free football tickets and accommodation because they were important for his son.
Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that Sir Keir repeatedly used an £18 million penthouse owned by Labour peer Lord Alli while campaigning to enter No 10.
The Prime Minister has been dogged by questions about donations that he has accepted for clothing and tickets to football matches and concerts.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed.
“We have lots of journalists outside our house where we live and I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine. But if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and it’s your one chance in life … I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying. 
“Somebody then offered me accommodation where we could do that. I took that up and it was the right thing to do.”
The Prime Minister also said that he had to accept free tickets to Arsenal football matches so that he could keep attending games with his son.
He said: “I’ve bought season tickets in the stand at Arsenal and I’ve had them a long time and I go with my boy who’s 16. As a result of security, I can’t go in the stand any more, so Arsenal Football Club have said ‘Be our guest in the director’s box if and when you can get to a match.’
“It means I can continue to do something which is really special to me, which is to go to football with my boy.”
The Labour leader was at Lord Alli’s property in Covent Garden, central London, on election night to watch the 10pm exit poll results with aides and family.
It is understood that the 5,000 sq ft home was also used for strategy meetings attended by Sir Keir in the run-up to the election, as well as for hosting fundraising dinners.
Lord Alli has donated thousands of pounds to Sir Keir to spend on suits and spectacles, as well as £5,000 worth of clothes and personal shopping to Lady Starmer.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Lord Alli but the row has overshadowed much of Labour’s annual party conference, which came to an end in Liverpool on Wednesday.
The peer attended the conference despite the ongoing furore, but refused to answer questions from journalists.
The Prime Minister said he would not apologise for taking donations from Lord Alli, as he did not believe he was “doing anything wrong”.
Sir Keir said that moving to Downing Street after the general election had been “tough” for his two children, aged 16 and 13, which he described as a “very important time” in their lives.
The Prime Minister has been very protective of his family, not naming his son and daughter in public or having photographs taken alongside them.
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has also said that she accepted tickets to attend a Taylor Swift concert because of one of her children, who was “keen” to go to the sold-out tour.
“Look, I’ll be honest, it was a hard one to turn down,” she told ITV. “I appreciate there was a big demand for the tickets, it was a privilege to be there.”