‘Man of the people’ Keir Starmer has racked up £107,000 worth of freebies since becoming Labour leader, and now accountants are pushing for him to pay tax on them. Robert Salter, an accounting director at Blick Rothenberg argued that Starmer should pay tax on his freebie, putting it plainly: if these were gifts given to an ordinary worker, they’d be facing a tax bill of nearly £50,000. He said that despite HMRC having no rule that allows politicians to avoid paying tax on gifts, they are treated as exempt…

By convention the taxman counts gifts to MPs as personal gifts, which aren’t taxable. Gifts to a corporate employee in a work capacity would, on the other hand, be counted as a benefit and so taxed. It’s no surprise that Starmer being given work clothes like suits and glasses hasn’t gone down well with taxpayers and accountants alike. There’s no evidence that ‘Mr Fairness’ has paid any tax on the endless Alli gifts as he continues to live it large and prepare to hike taxes for the rest of us. One rule for him, yet again…