Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar hugs Ian Murray

Anas Sarwar and Ian Murray fuel freebie row with trip to Liverpool FC's Anfield

The Scottish Labour leader and Scottish Secretary were taken by Salmon Scotland to see Liverpool beat Bournemouth 3-0 on Saturday.

by · Daily Record

Anas Sarwar and Ian Murray have fuelled the Labour freebies scandal after they were treated to free hospitality at Liverpool FC.

The Scottish Labour leader and Scottish Secretary were taken by Salmon Scotland to see Liverpool beat Bournemouth 3-0 on Saturday. The Labour Party conference is currently going on in the city, having started on Sunday and lasting till Wednesday.

It comes as Keir Starmer has come under fire for accepting £100,000 worth of gifts and tickets in his four and a half years as Labour leader. This means he has taken more freebies than any other party leader in recent times.

He has accepted almost 40 sets of free tickets in his four and a half years as Labour leader. These have mostly been for football matches, but also include a £4,000 hospitality package at a Taylor Swift concert and £698 of Coldplay tickets in Manchester.

He has also been criticised for receiving gifts from Labour donor Waheed Alli. The peer paid for £12,000 of work clothing, more than £20,000 of accommodation and £2,485 for glasses. Starmer was slammed after Alli was given a temporary Downing Street pass after the election.

Scottish politics

Sarwar and Murray are not the only politicians to go to events with the Scottish salmon industry. Outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross was treated to an Open gold tournament trip. His meetings were on his register of interests. Sarwar and Murray's will be added in the future.

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "Ian and Anas attended as the guests of Scottish Salmon – an important strategic partner in promoting Brand Scotland. All meetings are declared in the usual way."

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