Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Starmer had ‘ice-creams confiscated by police during unlawful summer work’

A friend who was at university with the Labour leader said they discovered their summer job of selling ice creams on the beach was ‘not legal’.

Pa Political Staff
Friday 23 June 2023 13:32 BST
Sir Keir Starmer is said to have had his ‘ice-creams confiscated’ by French police while trying to make money at university (Peter Byrne/PA)
Sir Keir Starmer is said to have had his ‘ice-creams confiscated’ by French police while trying to make money at university (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Sir Keir Starmer had a brush with the law while selling ice creams as part of a student summer holiday business venture that proved not to be legal, according to a friend.

The Labour leader, a former director of public prosecutions, is said to have had his “ice-creams confiscated” by police while touting for trade on beaches in the French Riviera during his university years.

John Murray, a university friend of Sir Keir, said the pair, along with other acquaintances, travelled to the south of France as students after seeing an advertisement claiming they could earn hundreds of pounds per day selling cold refreshments on the French Riviera.

Mr Murray told Politico’s Westminster Insider podcast their experience did not live up to the billing, spending their time “almost as beach bums” and making about “four francs a day” from their small business.

I think he probably had his ice-creams confiscated

John Murray, friend of Sir Keir Starmer

During their stay in the picturesque region, he said the friends discovered the trade was “not legal”, meaning they were forced to dodge French authorities while selling their cold wares.

Mr Murray said: “The place was overrun with other beach sellers, because they’d all been suckered into thinking they’d earn hundreds of pounds a day.

“Then we found out it was actually not legal, so we spent our time kind of avoiding being arrested.

“To be honest, I did get arrested. But all that happened was you had your ice creams confiscated, got a receipt, then had to walk back to the beach without your flip flops.”

When asked if Sir Keir had also been detained, Mr Murray said: “I can’t say … I think he probably had his ice-creams confiscated.”

A Labour spokeswoman said: “We are happy to make clear that no arrests were made, or even names taken, and that the only loss of liberty occurred to some cut-price ice-creams.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in