Labour accuse Tories of spending sprees on hotels, dining and gifts

Labour has accused the Conservative authorities of overseeing "lavish spending" connected hotels, hospitality and different costs utilizing taxpayer-funded debit cards.

The bills person been highlighted successful a Labour survey of spending connected authorities debit cards successful 2021.

Examples of bills see £3,393 connected 13 good creation photographs, and £23,457 connected intoxicant for UK embassies abroad.

The Conservatives branded Labour's investigation a "political stunt".

A Conservative Party spokesperson said Labour spent astir £1bn connected the cards - known arsenic authorities procurement cards (GPCs) - successful 2009, erstwhile the enactment was past successful government.

The spokesperson said the Conservatives chopped the fig of cards successful usage and introduced a request for spending to beryllium publically declared.

The £1bn of spending successful 2009 was crossed the full of the nationalist sector, portion Labour's investigation focused connected 14 authorities departments, truthful the figures are not straight comparable.

The Cabinet Office said the cards tin prevention clip and wealth erstwhile utilized for one-off purchases and are considered to beryllium an businesslike mode of paying for goods and services.

But Labour's lawman person Angela Rayner said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak "has failed to rein successful the civilization of lavish spending crossed Whitehall connected his watch".

The cards were introduced by the authorities of erstwhile Labour premier curate Tony Blair successful 1997 arsenic a much convenient mode to marque low-value purchases.

They were made disposable to each nationalist assemblage organisations, including cardinal authorities departments, section authorities and the NHS.

The usage of the cards has travel nether accrued nationalist and governmental scrutiny pursuing a large ungraded implicit expenses claims made by MPs successful 2009.

In a study connected GPCs successful 2012, the National Audit Office said "there has been a deficiency of cardinal oversight and power of the card, which has accrued risks to worth for money".

In its survey of the cards, Labour analysed spending information for each large authorities section successful 2021, isolated from the Ministry of Defence.

The enactment obtained immoderate of the information successful statements written by ministers successful effect to parliamentary questions asked by Emily Thornberry, the shadiness lawyer general.

The 14 authorities departments - including the Treasury and Home Office - spent astir £145.5m utilizing GPCs successful 2021, compared to £84.9m spent by the equivalent departments successful 2010-11, according to Labour's analysis.

However, the investigation does not instrumentality into relationship inflation.

In a 24-page document, titled the GPC Files, Labour included examples of authorities spending, including:

Labour's lawman person said her party's investigation showed "a scandalous catalogue of waste, with taxpayers' wealth frittered distant crossed each portion of government".

Ms Rayner said a Labour authorities would "get pugnacious connected waste, with an Office of Value for Money upholding transparency and precocious standards for each nationalist spending, including connected authorities procurement cards".

Labour's afloat investigation of the government's usage of GPCs is owed to beryllium published aboriginal connected Monday.