Year after year, the ledger of British political life records a familiar entry: elected officials accepting gifts from those who seek their favour, and the public wondering what, if anything, was exchanged in return. In the first seven months of 2026, UK MPs declared nearly £400,000 in corporate hospitality — concerts, racing days, flower shows, tennis finals — a figure that has climbed sharply even as the memory of 2024's 'freebie-gate' scandal has barely faded. The ministerial code permits it, the registers now disclose it more visibly than before, and yet the oldest question in democratic g