Exclusive:Labour government should be ‘recognised’ for being honest over gifts, transparency data minister says
The new Labour government should be “recognised” for sharing information and being open around gifts and donations, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of transparency data has said.
Sir Keir Starmer has come under pressure for accepting almost £110,000 in hospitality and other gifts since 2019, the most of any MP.
This included clothes, glasses and the use of a flat from Lord Waheed Alli, a Labour peer who was then given a pass to No10 following the election triumph.
On a visit to York and Wakefield, Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office Abena Oppong-Asare told the Yorkshire Post that the “rules are being followed in terms of what needs to be declared in Parliament … and in terms of what we’re supposed to do as ministers”.
Ms Oppong-Asare, who leads on government transparency data, said: “As a new government, we are very keen on being transparent, in terms of sharing information, and I think that should really be kind of recognised.
“What we’re doing as a government is being more open about what we’re declaring and the rules have been clearly followed.”
Labour’s Lucy Powell, the current leader of the House, has made the point that “the vast majority” of her declarations were in an official capacity as Shadow Culture Secretary.
However, ministers attending those events do not have to declare donations and gifts.
She told the I that “the Conservatives changed those rules, so that ministers don’t have to declare attending events in that way when it relates to their ministerial capacity” and suggested the rules could be changed.
Ms Oppong-Asare said Ms Powell has been “particularly right” and added: “There are different rules in terms of what you declare in Parliament.”
The Cabinet Office minister herself declared a hospitality ticket to the Brit Awards in March worth £1,500.
Ms Oppong-Asare was visiting Yorkshire yesterday to convene local resilience leaders from 11 areas in the North to discuss risks such as extreme weather and infectious disease.
She observed an emergency exercise by the West Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum in Wakefield.
The minister told the Yorkshire Post: “I was really impressed with how I saw emergency responders, local authority [staff and] police all coming together.”
She explained: “I wanted to hear directly from those individuals because we are doing a review into the resilience forum and we’ve got to respond to the Covid Inquiry, specifically looking at how devolved administrations and vulnerable groups play a role in terms of resilience.
“It’s about making sure I’m hearing directly from them about responding to the Covid Inquiry.”
Ms Oppong-Asare then travelled to the Emergency Planning College outside of York, which is the government’s main centre for resilience expertise.
The Cabinet Office will launch a new training academy there in spring next year.
Ms Oppong-Asare is the deputy co-chair of the Labour’s new flood resilience taskforce, which brings together people across government to tackle the risk of flooding.
In particular, this has devastated communities in North and East Yorkshire in recent years, and the Environment Agency is predicting “significant river and surface water flooding” in coming days.
The minister said she recently attended the first meeting of the taskforce which is looking ahead to risks over the winter.
She also said that local teams across the region have undergone “significant challenges, particularly with the riots that took place recently”.
“A lot of work was being done to make sure that the community had the support they needed very quickly,” Ms Oppong-Asare said.
"Our first duty is to keep people safe, which is why we’ve launched a review of the government’s long term approach to resilience.”