Gifts for the Prime Minister

The Daily Telegraph reports that ‘Sir Keir Starmer has been urged by Labour MPs to stop accepting gifts’. Lord Alli, a millionaire Labour donor, has even been buying clothes for the Prime Minister’s wife. Indeed, the PM has received £67,000 more in ‘gifts’ than the next MP on the list. The Telegraph spoke to a disgruntled and anonymous Labour Member about Starmer's acceptance of seats at sporting and cultural events:

“He keeps saying he has to go in the posh seats to be protected, ultimately saving money for all of us. But we know that most of these freebies were when he was Leader of the Opposition, so is he saying he needed more protection then (when he was relatively unknown) than the Prime Minister who sat in the stands?”

“Loads of us (senior Labour backbenchers) are livid. This is what hypocrisy looks like - and most of us have been fighting the ‘they’re all the same’ rhetoric for our whole careers, Keir’s double standards just prove it’s entirely accurate.”

Tough words, not from the Opposition, but someone in his own party and who worked to have him elected. Yet on the face of it, what is wrong here? A gift is a token of love borne of generosity. The Lord loves a cheerful giver, does he not?, and therefore ‘gifts’ are something of which our God approves. Yet the issue here is not the generosity of the gift but what might be ‘gotten’ in return. Are these kindly, benevolent givers of gifts simply expressing their affection and fondness for a friend and brother? Or are they, by giving something to the nation’s most powerful individual, with his immense patronage and stomping parliamentary majority, possibly wanting something in return? The latter, more likely; I suspect that Sir Keir’s personality does not make him an especially desirable friend for friendship’s sake. If Sir Keir has received one hundred thousand pounds in ‘gifts’ since becoming Labour Leader, what are his benefactors expecting quid pro quo?

Few gifts are given with no strings attached; only those from close family and friends are given for their own sake. The scriptures teach that ‘the gift of God is eternal life’, yet what does He get in return for such lavish generosity? A tithe of our income? Our fine singing each Sunday? Our esteemed company in heaven? A poor return indeed. God gives so freely because God is so wonderfully generous. His grace is beyond measure, and He expects nothing in return, for we have nothing to give, save our infinite gratitude and eternal wonder.