Including giveaways from oil and gas giants, gambling companies, media and bank firms
Over 100 MPs have enjoyed more than £180,000 worth of freebies from corporations this summer, including oil, gas and gambling companies, media oulets, and bank and investment firms.
Among the recipients were chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who enjoyed a free trip to the Chelsea flower show curtesy of Lloyds Banking Group worth more than £600 along with theatre and opera tickets. Deputy Prime Minster Oliver Dowden declared five sets of free tickets, also to the Chelsea flower show offered by a investment firm Fenchurch Advisory, run by a Tory donor, along with trips to Ascot, Formula One and the Royal Opera House.
Whilst the science and technology minister Paul Scully enjoyed Wimbledon tickets courtesy of oil and gas giant BP which racked up to £1,560, along with £1,100 worth of Billy Joel tickets thanks to the Betting and Gaming Council. Broadcaster Sky gaves their former employee, now a Treasury minister, Andrew Griffith, £2,000 of hospitality at Silverstone and £400 Ashes tickets.
Labour were also partial to a freebie with Kier Starmer given Coldplay tickets worth £698 by a concert promoter and tickets worth £3,716 to the Epsom Derby by the Jockey Club. Sky offered Wes Streeting £1,050 in hospitality at Hay festival, while he also received tickets worth £600 to the opera by FGS Global, a lobbying and public affairs company.
It appears to mark a growing trend, as last summer saw MPs enjoy free tickets to concerts and sporting events worth more than £82,000, according to an investigation by the Mirror. Whilst in 2021 the government’s Covid pilot scheme for large events meant MPs accepted tickets worth more than £100,000.
MPs must declare accepting hospitality within 28 days if it totals more than £300. However Tory MP Scott Benton revealed his hack of getting around the rules by accepting tickets just under the £300 declaration limit.
Speaking to an undercover journalist and reported in The Times, Benton remarked: “You’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295.”
The organisation Spotlight on Corruption said hospitality enables, ‘private interests with the deepest pockets to access and potentially influence MPs and minister’.
It throws under scrutiny the integrity of MP decision-making, with the potential to be undermined by the influence of big business. As Rose Whiffen, from Transparency International UK, put it: “When parliamentarians are offered gifts and hospitality from private companies, they should ask themselves what the motivation behind this is.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 117 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.