Lavish Spending on Tory Tax-Payer Debit Cards
I doubt many people have heard of Government Procurement Cards, but in Whitehall, these are the equivalent of bank debit cards, but funded by the taxpayer, used to buy goods and services in shops, over the phone and online, without having to go through normal invoicing procedures.
In 2021, the last year when all the data is available, almost £150 million was spent using these cards across fourteen of the biggest government departments. Most of that spending was fairly ordinary, but when the Labour Party trawled through the detailed records and asked questions to ministers, we also found a scandalous catalogue of wasteful and excessive spending.
Taxpayers’ money being frittered away on luxury furniture, five-star hotels, and four-figure bills in bars and restaurants. Ministers spending thousands of pounds hiring chauffeur services, organising lavish events, and hosting privately-catered dinners. Foreign visitors being treated to expensive gifts, lunches and receptions. And Whitehall departments spending small fortunes on corporate branding, expensive away-day venues, and ludicrous training courses.
The individual examples are enough to make your blood boil, whether it’s Rishi Sunak’s Treasury spending £3,393 on 13 photographs from The Tate Gallery to hang in their office, or Suella Braverman’s media team spending £724 on a four-metre wide 'Panoramic Limestone Background' from an Italian photo company to use as a backdrop for her photos and videos, or Liz Truss treating herself to a £3,240 VIP suite at Heathrow to freshen up after a trans-Atlantic flight.
These cards are also being used to burn through millions of pounds at the end of each financial year, just so departments can use up their budget. Across the 14 departments examined, spending in March 2021 was two-thirds higher than the monthly average for the rest of the year.
The Health Department under Matt Hancock spent £59,155 at their stationery supplier in the 40 days from 22 February to 2 April 2021, despite only spending £1,470 at the same company the other 325 days of the year, and the Treasury under Rishi Sunak spent tens of thousands more on camera equipment and training courses in March 2021 than they did in the rest of the year.
This would all be unacceptable at the best of times, but during the worst cost of living crisis for decades, it is just unforgivable. Do Tory ministers not know how much people in communities like ours are struggling financially, or do they just not care?
When thousands of pounds of public money are being spent on these cards so they personally can travel in style, stay in luxury hotels, and eat at the best restaurants, do they not realise how much difference those amounts would make right now to the average household?
These may be called Government Procurement Cards, but the Tories have clearly forgotten that it is the public footing the bill. That cannot continue, and under a Labour government, we will make sure it ends, imposing rigorous new standards across Whitehall and making sure they are enforced. But we should not have to wait until then. If you agree with me, get in touch and let me know, and I will make sure your voice is heard among all those demanding that this gravy train is brought to a stop.
You can see full details of Labour’s report into Government Procurement Card spending at:
