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FLYING START
Fury as newly-elected MPs accepted free tickets to India and Chicago within WEEKS of starting their jobs
Son of the PM’s chief-of-staff Sue Gray landed free tickets to a Taylor Swift concert worth £1,660
NEWLY elected MPs have accepted free trips to India and Chicago within weeks of starting their jobs, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Other freebies include Taylor Swift tickets and visits to zoos to feed tigers.
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Ashford MP Sojan Joseph went on a nine-day trip to India in August to “discuss changes in the world including migration”. A local newspaper paid the £1,800 bill.
Lucy Rigby and Mike Tapp attended Chicago’s Democratic National Congress on trips valued at £2,900 over the summer.
It will fuel the freebies scandal which led to Sir Keir Starmer having to pay for more than £6,000 of gifts.
But among those to cash in was Liam Conlon, son of the PM’s chief-of-staff Sue Gray, who got £1,660 tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.
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He has not yet delivered his maiden speech in the House of Commons, according to records.
Ex-aide to Keir Starmer Chris Ward and Hexham MP Joe Morris received Swiftie tickets.
Ben Coleman, the first Labour MP for Chelsea and Fulham, visited France at the end of August to speak at a meeting.
The left-wing Parti Socialiste paid £446 for his trip. It is not just Labour MPs.
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Tory Lewis Cocking fed the big cats at a zoo in Herts for £199.
Sir Keir Starmer made a career as a top-flight barrister but has yet to make a decent defence of accepting all his freebies
And Lib Dems Alison Bennett and James MacCleary accepted footie tickets worth £540.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing and sources stressed all gifts were declared.
But John O’Connell, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “MPs must remember why they wanted to be elected.”
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