Watch: Keir Starmer reveals why he has decided to pay back £6,000 in gifts

Keir Starmer was questioned on the timing of his repayment of £6,000 worth of gifts.Source: Reuters

Transcript

00:00Prime Minister, you've decided to repay £6,000 worth of gifts. Why now? Why those gifts and

00:07not all of them? Have you decided it was wrong to take them, or did you come under pressure?

00:12Well, on the question of the discussions I've had this afternoon with the President, with

00:16Ursula, tone does matter. Resetting does matter. And that has been a very important part of

00:24the message that I have carried into the meeting today. A return to pragmatism, to doing business

00:33in a respectful way, and in a way which I think will focus on deliverables rather than

00:41charging to the nearest camera to use a megaphone. So that does matter. In terms of the details

00:48of the challenges, look, of course there'll be challenges along the way, but this was

00:52about a good faith step forward to constructive deliverables, which I think are achievable.

01:01The nature of the discussion wasn't in the sort of individual items. It was much more

01:06sort of setting the framework for the summits that will follow. In relation to your second

01:11question, look, we came in as a government of change. We are now going to bring forward

01:18principles for donations, because until now, politicians have used their best individual

01:24judgment on a case-by-case basis. I think we need some principles of general application.

01:30So I took the decision that until the principles are in place, it was right for me to make

01:34those repayments. Thank you.