YESTERDAY evening, the news broke that the Prime Minister, his deputy and his chancellor would not longer accept free gifts of clothing.

In terms of corruption, it is a pretty mundane story, but, amazingly, it has dragged on for a week with the Prime Minister apparently unable to see what should be crystal clear to someone wearing glasses worth a staggering £2,495: this looks terrible.

A superwealthy Labour peer, Lord Alli, has been giving gifts to seven Labour cabinet ministers, including buying clothes for the top three, and luxury eye-wear for Sir Keir, and has even been augmenting the wardrobe of Lady Starmer.

This looks bad when Sir Keir promised his Government would be different to the trough-wallowing of Boris Johnson. Sir Keir was going to bring back the concept of public service and prove that all politicians were not the same. But now it looks as if they are.

This looks bad when the hairshirt Government is removing a few hundred pounds from the poorest pensioners while its leaders are putting on expensive glad rags that have been given to them by a rich friend.

This looks bad when no one understands Lord Alli’s motives: why does he think a Prime Minister earning £165,000 needs a little help in the sartorial department? Why doesn’t he give his money to real charity? Why did Sir Keir find it necessary to accept £16,200 of work clothing? Why can’t his wife clothe herself?

No one is accusing Sir Keir of corruption. Only crassness.

And the statement looks as if it has been released not because the Labour leadership has finally accepted that this looks terrible but because they don’t want it overshadowing the party conference which starts tomorrow.

Labour really needs a blisteringly good conference if it is to regain the hope that was palpable three short months ago.