Rachel Reeves has said she will not accept free concert tickets again after she was criticised for taking a family member to see Sabrina Carpenter without paying.
The chancellor accepted two free concert tickets to see the pop star in the O2 arena and defended the decision on security grounds.
On Thursday, however, after facing questions about welfare and spending cuts in her spring statement, Reeves said she would not do it again because she understood “how people feel about it”.
“I wouldn’t do it again, I felt I was doing the right thing but I do understand perceptions,” she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain. “I’m not intending to take concert tickets in the future. But you know, it is a balancing act in my job to try and be a good parent and also do my job with some of the security challenges that I face.”
Reeves faced criticism from another government minister earlier this week who said it was “not appropriate” for politicians to accept free concert tickets.
The housing minister Matthew Pennycook said he had accepted “zero” free concert tickets. “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.”
Other Labour MPs have said privately that it was wrong for the chancellor to accept the hospitality, especially at a time when she was making controversial public spending cuts.
Asked by ITV if she would rule out all freebies in future, Reeves said she would accept hospitality if it was necessary in her role, for example, a place at a formal dinner or event.
There is heightened sensitivity about politicians accepting freebies after senior Labour ministers were criticised for accepting thousands of pounds in gifted clothing from party donors. While in opposition, Reeves accepted a cash donation of £7,500 from a donor, Juliet Rosenfeld, which she used to buy clothes.
In September, Reeves, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner said they would not accept any more free clothes in an attempt to draw a line under the row.
Starmer also repaid £6,000 in gifts he received after becoming prime minister, including Taylor Swift tickets and rented clothing for his wife. Data analysed in the autumn found he had accepted a greater value of freebies in the past five years than any other MP.
