SIR Keir Starmer last night furiously denied he tried to con the public into thinking a penthouse borrowed from a millionaire pal was his family home.
The Prime Minister is under fire for filming a Covid video urging people to work from home while in a luxury pad owned by his Labour donor pal Lord Alli.
In the background of the clip filmed three years ago, somebody has placed a picture of the Starmer family — making it look like his home.
But Sir Keir yesterday claimed the latest freebie accusation against him was “farcical”, as he scrambled to counter allegations he had “pulled the wool over people’s eyes”.
Grilled in New York over why he tried to create the impression the penthouse was his home, he said: “Anybody who thinks that I was pretending it was my own home — that I’ve got Union Jacks by my fireplace, or that I would invite you lot into my living room to have a look around — I mean, it’s pretty farcical.”
The freebies saga has rocked the start of Sir Keir’s fledgling premiership — and overshadows his trip to the United Nations — with more revelations of dodgy gifts mounting by the day.
Last night, Health Secretary Wes Streeting became the latest Cabinet minister to admit using Lord Alli’s home.
He and Labour MP Kim Leadbeater hosted a fundraising bash there in March 2022, attended by actor Sir Ian McKellen.
They declared the value of the event as £4,600, which included the cost of drinks and catering paid for by Lord Alli.
Under-fire Sir Keir last night denied any rules had been broken over his photos at the flat — yet accepted the allegations have sparked a voter backlash.
He said: “I understand why the public have questions.
“I think the best thing we can do is to explain the circumstances and be absolutely clear that nothing wrong has been done here.
“Everybody has complied with all of the rules.”
Despite Sir Keir’s attempts to defuse the row, Tory Kieran Mullan said: “This appears to be an attempt to pull the wool over the public into believing Keir Starmer was at home.
“He needs to explain why he put up family pictures if not to mislead people.”
The PM has already tried to justify £20,000 worth of stays at the same central London flat while his son revised for his GCSEs — saying the lad needed to get away from the commotion of the family home at the time of the General Election.
He angrily refuted suggestions wealthy Lord Alli was influencing his government, blasting: “He’s a Labour Lord, so he wanted a Labour victory.
“That was his sole motivation. That sort of takes away any sense there’s a reward for him.”
But the Tories ramped up the pressure, demanding answers over whether donations from Lord Alli were declared in the correct way.
They point out that hours after being elected, the PM stood on the steps of Downing Street promising to put “country first, party second”.
Ex-minister John Glen has written to Sir Keir calling for him to be “open and accountable” following the recent controversies, and asked whether the PM has now declared the donations.
The Tories also want to know if the £18million penthouse — which was used for political filming — was declared with the Commons’ authorities.
Questions have also been raised by the Tories on who signed off on Lord Alli’s Downing Street pass and its expiry date.
Mr Glen added: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
BRITAIN would have to build a wind turbine the size of the Eiffel Tower every day until 2030 to reach Labour’s clean energy target, a union boss says.
GMB leader Gary Smith hit out at the plan to stop using fossil fuels for electricity by the end of the decade, amid fears it could destroy a million jobs.
He told ITV: “2030 clean energy target isn’t going to be hit.”
Mr Smith says it would be more realistic to have a target of 2050 as part of the move to net zero.
He represents thousands of oil and gas workers hit by the decision to speed up the phasing out of North Sea oil and gas drilling.
He fears that jobs will be created abroad instead of at home.
By Ryan Sabey
THE Chancellor is being warned her tax crackdown on wealthy non-doms is falling apart and will fail to raise any extra cash.
Rachel Reeves is struggling to win backing from spending watchdogs, who fear it could end up costing the Treasury money.
Her plan could push the super-rich out of the UK, leaving a £1billion funding gap for schools and hospitals, it is suggested.
Curerntly, those who are registered as not domiciled pay no UK tax on any earnings from overseas. Ms Reeves is said to want to press ahead with closing the loophole but there may be changes before the Budget.
Critics believe she risks driving away investment from the UK.
Shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Labour fail to understand the importance of globally competitive rates to our economy.”
By Ryan Sabey
