Labour finds new attack lines in the row over government procurement cards

Boris Johnson’s government, possessed of a substantial majority, was in reasonably robust health until the Owen Paterson scandal – which began when the former Environment Secretary was disciplined for lobbying on behalf of pharmaceuticals company Randox – led to a storm over the Prime Minister’s attempt to protect the North Shropshire MP. From Paterson to Rishi Sunak’s wife’s non-dom status to the scandals over the cronyistic awarding of PPE contracts to Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs, stories about Conservative self-enrichment on the public dime and rules-do-not-apply hypocrisy have proved some of the most effective attack lines for Keir Starmer’s Labour.

Clearly seeking more material in this vein, Labour has today released research on the use of government credit cards under the Conservatives. According to Labour’s analysis, spending on these cards has gone up by 70% since 2010, despite warnings by David Cameron about the possibility for their misuse. The findings show a variety of eye-raising expenses charged to the taxpayer by various government departments, including £4,500 spent on Venice hotels by Rishi Sunak’s Treasury and £1,500 spent on lavish meals in Jakarta during Liz Truss’s tenure as Foreign Secretary.

Angela Rayner responded to the story by stressing Labour’s plans for an ‘office of value for money’. The deputy Labour leader said: “Today’s shocking revelations lift the lid on a scandalous catalogue of waste, with taxpayers’ money frittered away across every part of government, while in the rest of the country, families are sick with worry about whether their pay cheque will cover their next weekly shop or the next tranche of bills.” However, almost as soon as the research was published, questions began to be asked about Rayner’s own expenses claims for various electronics. Asked about the claims, she responded strongly: “I don’t think the £1,600 on that is the same as millions of pounds that is being used on these credit cards in an inappropriate way”, adding: “I can absolutely justify my use of using electronic equipment to do my job.”

It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow, but more importantly than that, it is – of course – HeartUnions week. Kicking off our coverage, today on LabourList we have Community’s Kate Dearden writing about her union’s work defending the UK’s steel industry. She writes: “We have seen the devastating impact steelworks closing can have. For our members working in Redcar, 80% reported earnings above £30,000 before the closure in 2015, whereas only a third did so for their jobs following the steelworks closure. The impact of this closure is still being felt and will continue to hurt the next generation. It is unthinkable that the government could repeat this mistake in other steel towns across the country.” We’ll have more HeartUnions content throughout the week so keep an eye out – and join a union! Sign up to LabourList’s morning email for everything Labour, every weekday morning.