Labour peer Lord Alli investigated by standards watchdog

Labour peer Lord Alli is being investigated by the House of Lords’ standards watchdog over allegedly failing to register interests.

A complaint was made last week about the long-standing Labour donor, who has been at the centre of a row around his donations of clothes and glasses to senior politicians, including Sir Keir Starmer.

The prime minister has defended the donations, made during the election campaign, and has since said Labour politicians will no longer take donations like this.

As a peer in the House of Lords, Alli is required to register his interests in line with the parliamentary code of conduct.

Sir Keir has declared accepting donations from Lord Alli in the register of MPs’ interests, which included several weeks’ accommodation, worth more than £20,000.

The prime minister said this was to support his son during his GCSE exams.

Lord Alli also made donations worth more than £16,000 for work clothing and designer spectacles for Sir Keir, and further donations for his wife.

Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have also accepted clothing donations.

In August, it emerged that Lord Alli had been given a temporary Downing Street security pass despite having no formal government role, but Labour has previously denied any wrong-doing.

The rules say peers must register “all relevant interests, in order to make clear what are the interests that might reasonably be thought to influence their parliamentary actions”.

The code of conduct also says: “Members are responsible for ensuring that their registered interests are accurate and up-to-date. They should register any change in their relevant interests within one month of the change”.

The complaint will be investigated by the Lords Commissioners for Standards, who are also investigating the former Tory peer Lady Mone over her alleged involvement for procuring PPE contracts during the pandemic.