After strident criticism from fellow ministers Pennycook and Alexander this week Reeves has declared defeat on her freebie-taking habit. At last night’s press conference the Chancellor blamed her presence in a box at a Sabrina Carpenter concert on a family member, insisting that she received “advice” to do so and that she would rather have sat with the laymen in regular seats. It’s a tough life…
This morning on LBC Reeves said she would “think carefully” about still doing it and on ITV said: “I don’t have any intention of doing it again.” Stepping short of saying she won’t do it in future – remember when she said she had no plans to raise taxes?
Co-conspirators will remember Starmer repaid £6,000 worth of freebies he received since becoming PM when the scandal last reared its head. Will Rachel?
Downing Street says the PM “supports all of his ministers making their own judgments” over free hospitality when asked whether Reeves had made the right decision. But it now appears Labour ministers are now self-banning themselves from taking any freebies at all. Does that also extend to Labour MPs?
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”