Nadhim Zahawi racked up a bill of over £1,000 being chauffeured around the COP26 conference in Glasgow, it has been revealed.
The under-fire Tory chairman charged an enormous bill to the taxpayer by getting limos to ferry him around Glasgow for the climate change summit.
After giving a speech pledging to put the environment “at the heart of education”, the then-education secretary was driven to meet outdoorsman Bear Grylls for a photoshoot.
Schools minister Nick Gibb has since confirmed that a payment was made on a government procurement card to limo firm TBR Global Chauffeuring, and charged to the Department for Education.
In reply to a Parliamentary Question from Labour’s Emily Thornberry, he said the firm “provided transfer services between events within Glasgow when the former Secretary of State attended COP26.”
TBR offers a range of luxury vehicles made by Mercedes and Range Rover, none of which are electric.
The revelations have come to light as Labour has called on the prime minister to come clean about his knowledge of Zahawi’s dispute with HM Revenue and Customs when he appointed him to the role.
Zahawi has admitted he paid what HMRC said “was due” after it “disagreed about the exact allocation” of shares in the YouGov polling company he co-founded, an error he noted was “careless” not deliberate.
But he did not disclose the size of the settlement – reported to be an estimated £4.8 million including a 30 per cent penalty – or whether he paid a fine.
Angela Rayner said Zahawi’s position is “untenable” and Sunak’s deafening silence is “unsustainable”.
Related: ‘I was out shopping’: James Cleverly slammed for dodging Zahawi questions