A minister has appeared to criticise Rachel Reeves for accepting free tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert at the O2 arena, stating he would pay for his own attendance at shows.
Matthew Pennycook, who serves as minister of state for housing and planning, said he does not “personally think it’s appropriate” to accept hospitality offerings to gigs at the venue, which sits in his constituency of Greenwich and Woolwich.
The chancellor has faced criticism over her decision to take free tickets to the show ahead of imposing cuts to spending at the spring statement on Wednesday.
Reeves cited security as the reason for accepting the hospitality, for herself and a family member, and said she would declare their value to parliamentary authorities.
Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme she and a family member went to see the American singer “a couple of weeks ago”. She said the tickets “weren’t tickets that you were able to buy”.
“I do now have security, which means it’s not as easy as it would have been in the past to just sit in a concert, although that would probably be a lot easier for everyone concerned”, she said.
“So, look, I took those tickets to go with a member of my family. I thought that was the right thing to do from a security perspective.”
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Asked about the issue on Tuesday, housing minister Pennycook told LBC: “I don’t personally think it’s appropriate. If I want to go to a concert at the O2, I’ll pay for it.
“But individual MPs, individual ministers make their own decisions. I think that the important thing is that everything is declared and above board, so individual people can make their choices as to whether they think it’s appropriate to take tickets on occasions.
“I personally haven’t done, as I said, at the O2, and wouldn’t do.”
The comments come after transport secretary Heidi Alexander said she was too busy to attend concerts, telling Times Radio Monday she had to “prioritise my time” and “haven’t taken any tickets, to be honest, since I was elected.”
The Conservative Party has hit out at Reeves’ “profligate champagne lifestyle” in response to Pennycook’s comments.
Shadow cabinet office minister Mike Wood said: “This is an extraordinary slap down of the profligate champagne lifestyle Rachel Reeves’ has been enjoying since becoming chancellor.
“When senior Labour ministers are openly criticising her judgement then it’s no surprise business and investors are as well.
“The chancellor must kick her addiction to freebies and focus on undoing the damage she’s doing to family finances in her emergency budget tomorrow.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
Source: Politics
