Andy Burnham accused of hiding £6,600 VIP Japan party from Commons register

New MPs are required to declare all relevant financial interests from the previous 12 months before entering the Commons.

But the party, hosted in Japan and worth £6,600, was held exactly a year before Mr Burnham’s return to the Commons and not declared, according to the Mail.

He has now been challenged to declare the interest or face the parliamentary standards commissioner.

Tory MP Charlie Dewhirst said: "At a time when the declaration of gifts is under such a spotlight and after all of Keir Starmer’s problems with freebies, it is surprising that the Prime Minister hasn’t been more transparent.

"He should declare this immediately and apologise for his carelessness. If not, then the parliamentary standards commissioner should investigate at once."

A spokesman for No10 said: "The Prime Minister went on this trip in his official capacity as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

"This was not registered as the trip began before the registrable period."

It is said the Prime Minister will now investigate the trip and if the party needed to declared.

In June, the then-Mayor of Manchester visited Japan on a five-day trade mission.

He brought a self-described "largest-ever UK delegation" to the country, and was the guest of honour at an evening ballroom reception in Osaka, paid for by his Japanese city hosts.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister held a call with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with Mr Burnham setting out his "ambition" to "continue to strengthen defence security through GCAP", a project to develop a successor to the Eurofighter Typhoon.

TaxPayer’s Alliance campaign director William Yarwood said: "Taxpayers will be sickened to see MPs helping themselves to hundreds of thousands of pounds in freebies while households are squeezed by sky-high taxes.

"Concerts, race days, flower shows and corporate hospitality look far too much like the Westminster gravy train carrying on exactly as before.

"MPs should show some restraint, stop acting like lobbyists’ VIP guests and focus on delivering value for the people paying their wages."

Mr Burnham declared nearly £350,000 worth of donations in the four months before becoming Prime Minister in his first register of financial interests.

The donations included £35,000 from his former mayoral adviser Sacha Lord.

The Prime Minister also received four tickets and accommodation at Glastonbury worth £2,520 and two tickets to Ladies’ Day at Aintree.