Sir Keir Starmer accepted £20,000 worth of accommodation to help his 16-year-old son study for his GCSEs, it has emerged.
The prime minister was asked by the BBC about a £20,437 donation from Labour peer Waheed Alli between May and July, confirming that the sum was for somewhere his son could study “peacefully”.
He told the broadcaster: “At the beginning of the election, which we didn’t know when it was going to be called, my boy was in the middle of his GCSEs.
“I made him a promise that he’ll be able to get to his school, do his exams without being disturbed.”
Sir Keir said there were “lots of journalists outside our house where we lived”.
And he added: “I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine, but if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs, your one chance in life, I promised him we’d move somewhere, we’d get out of that house, and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.
“Someone then offered me accommodation where we could do that, I took it up, and it was the right thing to do for my boy, it didn’t cost the taxpayer a penny.”
Asked if that was Lord Alli, Sir Keir says: “Yes, of course.
“But my primary concern wasn’t about influencing government, it was making sure my boy could do his GCSE’s without wading through loads of journalists outside the house.”
More follows…
