UK Labour leader guilty of breaching lawmakers' code of conduct

LONDON

The leader of the UK’s main opposition Labour Party was on Thursday found to have breached the code of conduct for members of parliament (MPs).

Keir Starmer failed to register on time eight interests with the parliamentary standards committee responsible for handling MPs’ private interests.

In June this year, an inquiry was launched by the parliamentary standards commissioner, Kathryn Stone, after claims surfaced on Starmer’s late declaration of three interests that included gifts, benefits and hospitality from British sources.

Upon further investigation, however, the commission has found that the Labour leader failed to register eight gifts, five more than found in the original complaint.

The interests that Starmer failed to declare include gifts from football teams and the sale of a plot of land. At the time of the inquiry, Starmer stated he was “absolutely confident” that he had not breached the code of conduct.

However, as the breaches are minor, inadvertent and with no deliberate attempt to mislead the parliament, the commission opted for a “rectification” procedure, without a referral to the committee on standards, which happens in more serious cases.

As such, details of the investigation as well as an apology from Starmer will be published on the House of Commons’ website.

“Keir Starmer takes his responsibilities to the register very seriously and has apologized to the commissioner for this inadvertent error,” said a spokesperson from the Labour Party.

“He has assured the commissioner that his office processes have been reviewed to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” the statement added.