Exclusive:
Former Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden did not make public how much the freebies cost because of the loophole in the rules introduced by Tory ex-PM David Cameron in 2015
Oliver Dowden avoided declaring the cost of tickets to the theatre, a blockbuster museum exhibition and the Last Night of the Proms under a Tory freebies loophole.
The former Deputy Prime Minister did not make public how much the freebies cost because of the loophole introduced by David Cameron in 2015. Under the rules, hospitality received by ministers linked to their duties is published by departments rather than on the transparency register for MPs.
The information is released quarterly and does not include the value of the gifts. Labour has announced plans to close the loophole so ministers have to abide by the same rules as backbench MPs, whose interests must be declared within 28 days, are published fortnightly and include the cost of the hospitality.
The freebies loophole meant Mr Dowden did not have to declare the value of tickets from the BBC for himself and a guest to Last Night of the Proms in September 2023. In December, he got a pair of tickets to the National Theatre’s production of The Motive and The Cue, a play directed by Sam Mendes about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
He and a guest then went to see A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic in January, starring Christopher Eccleston as Ebenezer Scrooge. In February, he got tickets for the Life in the Roman Army exhibition at the British Museum. It is not clear how these events related to his then role as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden recently said the ministerial code would be overhauled as Labour scrambles to get on the front foot after a row over freebies accepted by Keir Starmer and his top team.
Speaking last week, he said: “This was a Tory loophole, brought in so that you would have an event where the Tory minister, as it was under the last government, [was] there, the Labour shadow opposite number would also be there, and the Tory minister would not have to declare. That was the Tory rules, we don’t think that’s fair, so we will close that loophole so ministers and shadow ministers are treated the same going forward.”
A Labour source said: “We are closing the Tory freebies loophole as we work to restore public faith in politics. The last Conservative government used this loophole to hide the cost of the hospitality they were accepting from the hottest theatre tickets to entry to art exhibitions. We are committed to being more upfront and open.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “All donations and gifts have been transparently declared in the correct manner. Donations included in the Ministerial register are wider than that of the House of Commons as they do not include a reporting threshold, and include gifts accepted in a Ministerial capacity which would not be in the scope of the House of Commons register.”
The spokesman accused Keir Starmer of being “freebie-addicted” and said the Tories “welcome openness and transparency”. It comes as the Mirror revealed that Tory leadership hopeful James Cleverly had again failed to declare he’d taken his wife to a freebie event.
Mr Cleverly was joined by wife Susannah at the Women’s World Cup Final in Sydney last summer, with the couple pictured smiling at the Stadium Australia on August 20. Yet the official record issued through the Foreign Office says “no” when asked if he’d taken a family member or friend.
It comes days after he was forced to admit a similar “mistake” when The Mirror reported Mrs Cleverly was also at the Wimbledon men’s singles final a month earlier. A spokesman for Mr Cleverly confirmed that a second error had been made in relation to the World Cup final and the Foreign Office has been asked to correct it.
