Housing minister takes a pop at Reeves over freebies

This week was never going to be an easy one for Rachel Reeves, what with her Spring Statement – likely to include controversial spending cuts – tomorrow. But things are going from bad to worse for the beleaguered Chancellor as yet more Labour ministers hit out at her latest Sabrina Carpenter freebie. Dear oh dear…

Now housing minister Matthew Pennycook – whose constituency contains the O2 arena where Carpenter performed – has taken a pop at the Cabinet Secretary. When asked on LBC this morning why he would not accept tickets at his local venue, Pennycook remarked: ‘Well, 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.’ Shots fired!

Pennycook’s is the second public intervention on the matter, after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander made a dig at Reeves on Monday. In a veiled criticism of the Chancellor, Alexander remarked that she was too ‘busy’ to take freebies – insisting she had ‘never accepted tickets to any concerts or anything like that’ as a Member of Parliament, adding: ‘I’ve got a very busy diary and I’ve got to prioritise my time and, you know, when I’ve got time off, actually spending some time with my family and my husband is actually a more attractive option to me.’