Opposition Labour leader and the UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced growing calls to explain himself after it emerged he had accepted gifts and hospitality worth over $132,000 or (£100,000) since December 2019, the highest in the UK parliament. Even though giving these gifts has been approved and is parliamentary legal, the information is awkwardly timed as his government calls for people to tighten their belts in the hope of reaping long-term economic gains.

It has been fueled by Labour’s plan to reduce winter fuel payments to many pensioners; they may be left with $400 (£300) less. The proposed cut, aimed at solving a funding problem, has received considerable opposition, including from the leadership of Starmer’s party.

Further fuelling the fire, new questions are being raised over other even more generous donations that Sir Keir and his wife Victoria received. The media erupted into the coverage of Victoria Starmer, who recently attended London Fashion Week and was wearing and gifted clothes worth $6,617 (£5,000) by Waheed Alli, a media entrepreneur and Labour donor. Alli, a lord of the House of Lords of British Parliament, is also reported to have given gifts to the Prime Minister in clothes, shelter and even spectacles, “pair and pair of pairs”.

The unfolding scandal was dubbed “passes for glasses” in the media after it emerged that Alli had been issued a temporary Downing Street security pass. However, he has no official position in the government. Some of Alli’s critics have asked whether he should continue entertaining guests with direct access to the presidency.

Apart from the vote of no confidence and the various controversies regarding gifts, there is also information regarding Starmer’s top team member, Sue Gray. Gray, a former senior civil servant who chaired the investigation into Covid-19 lockdown parties in Downing Street of the Conservative government, is now Starmer’s chief of staff, who will receive an annual wage of $224,978 (£170,000). Starmer has a slightly lower yearly income of $221,007 (£167,000).

Since these revelations about gifts to Starmer and his staff’s inflated salaries are constant, the opposition Conservative party has cried foul. Should Starmer’s radical government continue to dream of austerity, particularly in areas where pensioners and other vulnerable groups will be affected, critics argued that the Prime Minister’s acceptance of such extravagant souvenirs is hypocritical.

Sky News and Tortoise Media have revealed that Starmer has spent £ 107,145 on gifts, benefits, and hospitality in the last four years. This includes $52,936 (£40,000) on hospitality. Recognisable expenses included tickets to Taylor Swift worth $5,293 (£4,000) and Premier League football tickets worth $15,880 (£12,000).

Starmer insisted on receiving gifts from Arsenal since he could not watch their games on the stands for security reasons. “Cong blessings, I can’t joke to go to a game if I don’t accept a gift of hospitality,” he told reporters. He said that Arsenal had offered him a corporate box that costs $11,579 (£ 8,750) per game.

‘You could say, ‘Well, bad luck’… But, you know, never going to an Arsenal game again because I can’t accept hospitality is taking it a little bit too far,” Starmer quipped.

While the criticism intensifies, Starmer’s leadership is receiving keen observation. While many in his government have come under fire over proposed pension cuts and austerity measures, this controversy threatens to erode his credibility during such times further. The Labour leader has to steer through this political turbulence while the public expects the management of the nation’s current economic problems.