Our elected officials haven’t let spending time in their constituencies get in the way of their summer plans, at least going by the latest update to the register of interests. Countless MPs enjoyed all expenses-paid freebies to the social events of the season, including Wimbledon, the Ashes and Glastonbury. Here are some of the more interesting examples:

• Jonathan Ashworth, Suella Braverman, Yasmin Qureshi and Greg Hands were amongst those taking free trips to the Ashes. Their visits alone were worth over £4,000.
• Rachel Reeves, Marsha de Cordova, Alok Sharma, Toby Perkins and Steve Brine (who in May was found in breach of lobbying rules) were amongst those with free trips to the tennis. Paul Scully and (North Sea Oil-Hating) Stephen Flynn were also in attendance at Wimbledon, courtesy of BP. Tickets for these MPs alone cost £8,300.
• At least nine MPs received £40,000 in paid-for Silverstone tickets. These included Lucy Powell, Karen Bradley, David Davis, Chris Grayling, Andrew Griffith, Andrea Leadsom and Priti Patel.
• Oliver Dowden enjoyed three trips to the opera, worth £1,800. He also received a freebie to Ascot, where he was joined by Theresa May.
• There are yet more names to add to the list of MPs skipping sitting days to visit Glasto – with over £17,000 in more free hospitality being registered for the music festival. Rosena Alin-Khan, Jonathan Reynolds, Steve Brine, Greg Clark and Abena Oppong-Asare were all there.
• These MPs weren’t alone in enjoying some gigs over the summer. Dehenna Davison, Pat McFadden and Liz Truss watched Bruce Springsteen. Paul Scully took a £1,100 ticket to see Billy Joel, Carolyn Harris watched Lionel Ritchie while Toby Perkins went to a Harry Styles concert. And fresh from losing his cabinet post, Nadhim Zahawi embraced the summertime sadness at a Lana Del Ray show.

Hospitality freebies aren’t the only perks enjoyed by our political elite caste. In addition to the lucrative second jobs, Liz Truss got £32,000 for attending a Dublin conference, Kwasi Kwarteng got £35,000 for two speaking arrangements, Alok Sharma lined up a £30,000 gig and Johnny Mercer bagged an additional £49,200 as a “broadcast fee for filming already undertaken”. Nice work, if you can get it…

Despite Labour’s promises to cut down on lobbying, the party hasn’t stopped operating in a grey area, including accepting cash from shady sources. Rosena Allin Khan is the latest to cash in, as she received a £5,000 donation from 50 Shades of Grey author E.L. James. According to Politico, Brexit-hating bondage enthusiast James made the donation under her real name of Erika Mitchell. Guido was just surprised she didn’t fancy donating to the Whips Office…

As if the cost of living crisis weren’t enough, residents in Rosena Allin-Khan’s Tooting constituency are now facing yet another unnecessary expense. Thanks to the incompetence of their elected official, constituents are having to fork out for the unpaid postage of a parliamentary letter from their own pockets. It’s not the first time members of the Shadow Cabinet have been unable to add up…

Guido hears the local post office has been inundated with complaints. One resident added:

“I got one of the grey Post Office cards through my door and assumed it was something important. I had to faff around online to hand over £2.50 to get this Labour propaganda circular. To say I’m f*cked off is the understatement of the century.”

It’s not even an isolated incident for Labour. Brighton residents were forced to foot a similar bill last week…

Of course, MPs are unable to use parliamentary stationery for party political purposes. This letter seems to have trodden the right side of the rules – barring one reference to her Labour Party affiliations. Either way, it’s a royal fail from Labour.

In a swift turn of events, Rosena’s second bullying accuser has suddenly changed his mind. Not long after going to pixel, Lukey Stranger tweeted to expressly deny making a “formal” complaint against Rosena – something which we did not suggest. Following the article’s publication, he has – for some reason – changed his recollection.

Guido reported yesterday, in Stranger’s own words, that he was shamed and humiliated by Rosena such that he was left “in floods of tears and bereft of words”. Apparently what he meant to say was working for her was the “happiest and proudest time of my life and she showed me nothing but compassion and kindness”. Whilst Lukey now absolves “indomitable” Rosena of responsibility, he maintains a complaint against Sean Lawless, who is still employed in her office.  Guido is happy to correct the record.

Before reporting on allegations of bullying against Labour’s Shadow Mental Health Minister, Guido contacted the Labour press office, who issued a categoric denial. Labour denied there were any investigations and insisted no formal complaints were raised – based on the evidence Guido provided. Well… Guido has since received hard evidence that formal complaints were lodged. Co-conspirators can read the full email below…

Labour press maintains their position – that there was no formal complaint – was consistent. Based on the fact no investigation arose directly from the tweets initially presented and that complaints are only carried forward once significant evidence is presented. Guido will let co-conspirators be the judge.

Rosena faces another allegation of bullying behaviour: activist Lukey Stranger alleged that online harassment left him “in floods of tears & bereft of words”.

Labour demanded Dominic Raab be suspended when he faced bullying allegations and claimed that “whenever there’s even an allegation in the Labour Party, that MP in question loses the labour whip.” By refusing to accept there are bullying allegations being made against her means Rosena doesn’t have to the whip suspended…

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A former Labour councillor and activist has accused the Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health of treating people “like dirt”. Hannah Stanislaus, who has since quit the party, said the environment in Rosena Allin-Khan’s office in 2019 left them “suicidal and in the jaws of addiction”. Speaking on Twitter, Hannah said Rosena was guilty of berating and belittling activists, adding she allowed staffers to “bully” and “intimidate”. Labour categorically denies the claims.

Rosena isn’t the only individual highlighted for her behaviour. Hannah also points the finger at staffers Kate Forbes and Sean Lawless. Both are still employed in her office.

More recently, Hannah questioned why Labour are yet to respond. Well, Labour’s press team has a fair answer to this – there have been no formal complaints lodged and they have not launched a proactive investigation, which they say they would if they thought there was a case to answer. Keir Starmer has criticised the Prime Minister for being “too weak to do anything” about bullying allegations against Dominic Raab. At least Rishi held an investigation…