MPs and Freebies

 MPs have accepted almost £300,000 of tickets to sports matches, concerts, red carpet film awards and theatre trips in the last year, prompting questions about how such freebies could influence their decision making.

Included in the gifts handed to politicians were Glastonbury tickets from Google, FA Cup final hospitality from the Football Association (FA), and a gift hamper from a Middle Eastern dictatorship.

Politicians attended concerts by artists including Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and Sam Fender.

There is no limit, beyond public criticism, of the value of gifts that MPs can claim from individuals and companies from the UK as long as they are declared on the members register of interests.

Charing Cross Bridge
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Photo Credit: Museum Wales [Public Domain] 

Some gifts on the register, such as attendance at industry dinners or tickets to local festivals, could be reasonably argued to be part of MPs' community work. Others are harder to justify, such as the £2,400 worth of free Oasis tickets received by the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi from the Betting and Gaming Council, a gambling industry lobbyist in July.

Anti-corruption campaigners have argued that accepting such gifts could leave politicians more willing to listen to the giver's point of view, giving those willing to treat MPs an unfair advantage.

The most popular category of donations were football tickets, with MPs accepting almost £60,000 worth in the last year.

Recipients included the prime minister Sir Keith Starmer, who declared £11,000 worth of Arsenal tickets since November last year. The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, accepted tickets to this year's FA cup final worth £2000 from Crystal Palace FC....

MPs also accepted free tickets from lobbyists. The former chancellor Sir Jeremy Hunt declared thet he accepted a free ticket to a Paul McCartney concert from Roland Rudd, chair of the lobbying firm FGS Global. FGS's clients have previously included the Chinese fast fashion firm Shein, which is trying to list in London...

Kamila Kingstone, from Spotlight on Corruption said: "These findings show yet again how easy it can be for private interest groups and lobbyists to gain privileged access to politicians through dishing out freebies. Just declaring these gifts and hospitality is not enough; we need to prevent conflicts of interest arising in the first place. MPs should only accept these kinds of perks when there is a genuine public interest in doing so.."...

(Jessica Sharkey, George Greenwood, The Times, 2025)

What are these companies paying the money, gifts etc for? Why are these gifts given and why are MPs accepting them? Shouldn't MPs give a brief reason why they accept them in the register of interests? There are very strict rules that apply to bodies like the civil service and teachers. Why? Because they both recognise the risk of undue influence.