ANDY Burnham accepted £12,000-worth of tickets and hospitality in two years.
The Greater Manchester mayor has become the latest senior Labour politician to admit accepting a large catalogue of lavish freebies.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham accepted £12,000-worth of tickets and hospitality in two years[/caption]
Mr Burnham with Chair of the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s charity Tim Heatley, Tom Ogden of the Blossoms, and Liam Fray of the Courteeners at the launch of Raise the Roof[/caption]
Mr Burnham has previously said he is not ‘holier in thou’ in regards to snapping up freebies[/caption]
It comes after the 55-year-old last month made a humiliating climbdown from his campaign to replace PM Sir Keir Starmer.
His criticism of the Labour leader at the party’s annual conference sparked fury from Cabinet ministers.
He alleged MPs were privately urging him to challenge the PM while criticising digital ID cards, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ fiscal rules.
Mr Burnham later conceded he “can’t launch a leadership campaign” because “I’m not in parliament”.
He has now been told by the Tories to focus on justifying accepting expensive gifts rather than plans to topple Mr Starmer.
Mr Burnham enjoyed freebie tickets worth over £1,300, as well as trips to major sporting events worth nearly £700 in the last 12 months alone.
The mayor has also accepted tickets and accommodation to Glastonbury worth over £3,000 and tickets to sports events worth more than £7,000, including the Euro 2024 final.
The full list has been detailed on dad-of-three Mr Burnham’s official register of gifts and hospitality – and shows he was still snapping up freebies when most ministers had stopped.
In response, the Tories have told the Daily Mail: “At a time when the country is staring down a cost-of-living crisis and an economy in freefall, the last thing Britain needs is a wannabe Prime Minister distracted by their next free show and leadership manoeuvring.
“The country faces serious economic challenges and deserves a government that is focused on those, not divided my petty internal squabbles and party politics.”
A scandal erupted last year after it emerged Mr Starmer and half a dozen other Labour figures were given seats to see Taylor Swift during the UK leg of her sellout Eras tour in August 2024.
At the time, Mr Burnham had backed moves to tighten up rules on gifts and praised the PM for fronting what became known as Taylorgate.
Mr Starmer subsequently paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality.
Mr Burnham – who donates 15 percent of his £118,267-a-year salary to charity – told Sky News at the time he does not claim to be “holier than thou”.
Since then, however, he’s gone on to snap up freebies worth more than £3,000, according to his register of donations.
In June, he accepted two tickets worth £105 to see Massive Attack at Manchester’s Co-op Live, and the same month accepted four tickets to Glastonbury worth £1,520, and accommodation worth £1,000.
According to the register, the festival freebies were accepted as Mr Burnham was one of the speakers at the event, discussing disability benefits.
In August he received two tickets to the Hundred cricket clash between Manchester Originals and London Spirit worth £458.
On September 20, the Everton season ticket holder snapped up a hospitality ticket to watch the club taken on rivals Liverpool in the Merseyside derby worth £228.
Last November Mr Burnham accepted four tickets to see the Courteeners and four tickets to the MTV European Music Awards.
A spokesman for Mr Burnham told the Mail: “Since he was first elected in 2017, the Mayor has honoured his manifesto commitment to donate 15 per cent of his salary to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.
“Over the eight-and-a-half years he has been in office, this commitment has seen him donate more than £100,000.
“As Mayor of one of the country’s biggest city regions, it is right that he represents Greater Manchester at the events that bring major benefit to the local economy.”
Taylor Swift performs at Wembley Stadium as part of her Eras Tour in June 2024[/caption]
PM Sir Keir Starmer with his wife Victoria at the Taylor Swift gig[/caption]
Mr Burnham accepted lavish tickets and accommodation for Glastonbury[/caption]
Do you know more? Email ryan.merrifield@thesun.co.uk
