UK politics live: Starmer pays back £6,000 in gifts amid donations row as Lord Alli faces interest probe

Sir Keir Starmer says the UK is putting our relationship with Europe on a “more solid, stable footing”.

He told reporters he had agreed with resident of the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to hold regular UK-EU summits at leader level, starting with a summit in the first half of next year.

He said they had agreed that they could do more together in a few key areas, “in particular, promoting growth and prosperity, working together on shared challenges like climate change, energy security and illegal migration, and strengthening our shared security and stability”.

Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since entering No 10 after a row over ministerial donations, it’s been revealed.

The prime minister is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.

Sir Keir and other cabinet members – who vowed to “clean up” British politics – have faced weeks of criticism for accepting tens of thousands of pounds worth of freebies from wealthy donors.

The prime minister has committed to overhauling hospitality rules for ministers to ensure better transparency about what is provided following the backlash.

On Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The prime minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code.

“Ahead of the publication of the new code, the Prime Minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members’ interests.”

In a joint statement, Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to work “at pace” to take forward “an agenda of strengthened co-operation”.

The prime minister and European Commission president will meet again this autumn and there will be regular leader-level EU-UK summits, with the first expected in early 2025.

The joint statement said they “underlined their mutual commitment to the full and faithful implementation” of the existing post-Brexit agreements, and they “reaffirmed their mutual commitment to uphold international law and to the European Convention on Human Rights”.

It added: “They agreed a stable, positive and forward-looking relationship was in their mutual interests and provided the basis for long-term co-operation.

“They agreed to take forward this agenda of strengthened co-operation at pace over the coming months, starting with defining together the areas in which strengthened co-operation would be mutually beneficial, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience, in full respect of their internal procedures and institutional prerogatives.”

Yvette Cooper is meeting G7 ministers in Italy to discuss “critical” cooperation with UK’s partners on migration.

The home secretary said the summit in Avellino represents an “invaluable opportunity to work internationally” to tacjle poeple smuggling.

Ahead of the meeting, she said: “The perpetrators of the vile trade of migrant smuggling have no concern about the security of national borders or the safety of the people they exploit.

“This is a global challenge and working in collaboration with our closest partners is critical.”

Tory leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has suggested the Treasury was to blame for the rise in immigration during the Conservatives’ time in power in her closing conference speech.

Ms Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat are all battling to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, and migration has been a central topic of discussion during the contest.

All the candidates got a chance to make a final pitch to the conference on Wednesday morning.

Ms Badenoch told delegates that in government, the Conservatives “did not always keep our promises”.

“We promised to lower taxes, they went up. We promised to lower immigration, it went up. Why? Because the Treasury said high immigration was good for the economy, but we knew it was not good for our country,” she said.

Migration – alongside the NHS and the future of the Conservative Party – has been one of the key discussion points of the contest.

Labour peer Lord Alli is under investigation over “alleged non-registration of interests” leading to a possible breach of the members’ code of conduct.

The fashion mogul, who has been at the centre of a row over donations accepted by Sir Keir Starmer, is being probed by the Lord’s commissioners.

In the first controversy to hit Sir Keir’s new government, questions have been raised over Lord Alli – the business executive who has donated some £700,000 to the party over the past two decades – being handed a Downing Street pass.

According to an update published on Parliament’s website on Wednesday, Lord Alli is being investigated by the Lords’ commissioner for “alleged non-registration of interests leading to potential breaches of paragraphs 14(a) and 17 of the thirteenth edition of the code of conduct”.

These rules relate to making clear what the interests are that might be reasonably thought to influence a member’s parliamentary actions and ensuring entries are up to date.

Tory leadership contender James Cleverly refused three times to disown the economic chaos which took place under Liz Truss’ leadership after his plan to scrap stamp duty on house sales was likened to policies introduced by the former prime minister.

The pledge, which he said would cost £10 billion, was compared in a radio interview to the disastrous tax cuts introduced by Ms Truss’ government.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story: