Chancellor Rachel Reeves is once more under investigation—for failing to declare complimentary theatre tickets she received over Christmas – just weeks after promising never to accept lavish freebies again.

Reeves accepted four tickets to the National Theatre worth £276 on 27 December 2024, but only added them to the MPs’ register of interests three months later—on 27 March 2025.

That’s a full 60 days past the deadline required by parliamentary rules, and conveniently just days after she had to defend her use of free tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert on national television.

The timing raises eyebrows. The late declaration came four days after Reeves told the BBC she had “no intention of doing that again” and two days after a Politics Live debate grilled her over the concert controversy.

A spokesperson has insisted that Reeves’ interests are “fully declared and up to date.”

But after the Standards Commissioner opened a formal investigation, the question becomes: is this really just another administrative slip—or a pattern of behaviour?

Of course we have to accept that this is not a new freebie, so Reeves may have kept her promise not to have any more after March 23. But it is an old one that she had not declared until after a row erupted, and we have to question why she admitted it so late.

The excuse of “security” has been rolled out again, with Reeves suggesting public outings now require planning and protection.

But critics argue that accepting expensive gifts while holding one of the most powerful offices in the UK isn’t just poor optics—it’s a breach of trust.

This incident follows a wider trend in the Labour leadership: in 2022, Keir Starmer was found to have broken the same rules over football match tickets. He, at least, issued an apology.

For a government that pledged transparency and integrity, the growing list of “forgotten” freebies is starting to look less like forgetfulness—and more like contempt for the rules.