POLITICIANS have enjoyed thousands of pounds worth of free tickets and hospitality to major music and sporting events over the summer, including Glastonbury, Wimbledon and the Open golf tournament at St Andrews.
One of the most popular gigs was Ed Sheeran, with seven Tory and one Labour MP receiving tickets worth more than £6500, according to the latest register of financial interests.
Glastonbury music festival was a more favoured destination for Labour politicians, with MPs Kevin Brennan, Conor McGinn and Lucy Powell – who said attended in her role as shadow culture minister – declaring hospitality and tickets worth nearly £4000.
Their colleague Zarah Sultana also registered two tickets for the festival with a value of £560, adding this was “associated with being a guest speaker”.
READ MORE: 'It hurts even now to talk about it': Life in the ruins of the war in Ukraine
Former health secretary Matt Hancock got tickets to see Adele with a value of £699, while his Tory MP colleague Craig Whittaker received tickets to see the same artist – with hospitality thrown in – totalling £1794.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi received four tickets for a Billie Eilish concert, which were worth £480.
Other music gigs which MPs got free tickets to included the Rolling Stones, with Conservative MP Paul Scully registering two tickets with hospitality with a total value of £800.
Meanwhile party colleagues Jonathan Djanogly and Mark Pawsey both received two tickets with hospitality worth £600 for Garsington Opera.
When it comes to sporting events, The Open golf championship at St Andrews – which was celebrating its 150th anniversary – also featured frequently in the declarations made by MPs.
This included Scottish MPs Wendy Chamberlain of the Liberal Democrats, and Labour’s Ian Murray, who both received tickets and hospitality worth around £750.
The SNP’s John Nicolson also registered tickets worth £900, which were used by a staff member.
Six other MPs – four Conservatives, one Labour and one DUP – also received tickets and hospitality for The Open, totalling nearly £5000.
Another popular sporting event was Wimbledon, with Scottish Tory MP David Mundell receiving a ticket with hospitality worth £475.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross was a guest at the All England Tennis Club Championships, with associated hospitality bringing the value to £475.
Four Tory and three Labour MPs also registered receiving tickets and hospitality for the tennis tournament, totalling more than £8500.
Overall, the MPs received almost £70,000 worth of free tickets to concerts and sporting events. The register also revealed Conservative leadership candidates have declared more than £140,000 in donations for their campaigns.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel