Wes Streeting was spotted fleeing BBC Newsnight cameras amid mounting controversy over Labour donations.

The Health Secretary jokingly ran away from the programme’s political editor Nicholas Watt after a fiery exchange earlier in the week.

Mr Streeting came out fighting when questioned about the ongoing row overshadowing the party’s conference.

He had said: “I’m proud of people who want to contribute, not just their time and volunteering but their money to our politics.

“It is a noble pursuit just like giving to charity and we don’t recognise that enough.”

Mr Streeting added the alternative was to “ask taxpayers to fund our politics” but his performance was widely criticised on social media with some calling the comments “ridiculous”.

The scandal has caused huge embarrassment for Labour, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his top team under fire for accepting a range of gifts including clothing donations and even Taylor Swift tickets.

Streeting replied by saying Starmer would “shake it off” when asked if a free gig pass was a “noble cause”.

He added: “Let me say, I’m absolutely delighted in the BBC’s newfound conviction that no one should be paid more than the prime minister, that they shouldn’t give or receive hospitality and we’ll judge the performance on the social media mentions.”