• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Sunak splashes £500k of public cash on repairing his public image

All at a time when the chancellor has told the British people he has no money to ease the cost-of-living crisis.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2022-05-22 07:49
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

The Treasury has come under fire for authorising £500,000 of taxpayer money to be spent on focus groups and polls.

Procurement documents published by the Government show consultants Deltapoll were selected to carry out the work, with an option to extend the contract for another year – taking the potential total cost to £1 million.

The contract says the researchers are expected to carry out twice-weekly focus groups and weekly online polling over a 12-month period, ending in February 2023.

They should also produce “in-depth reports” on their findings, including analysis, on a monthly basis.

“Simply staggering”

Labour said it was “simply staggering” the department had given the green light to “little more than a taxpayer-funded vanity exercise for a Chancellor desperate to repair his image”.

But a Treasury source insisted the research was policy-focused, rather than seeking feedback on Mr Sunak’s personal profile.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “At a time when Rishi Sunak has told the British people he has no money to ease the cost-of-living crisis, and that cutting their energy bills would be ‘silly’, it is simply staggering that he has ordered half a million more of taxpayer’s money to be spent on private focus groups and opinion polls.

RelatedPosts

Farage asked what the best thing to come out of Brexit is – his response is beyond parody

PM tells Tory plotters: Stop focusing on things I’m meant to have stuffed up

RMT has best response as Johnson bemoans train drivers for going out on strike

Tories reminded of electoral pacts as they bemoan Lib-Lab alliance

“The Government apparently has half a million to spend on spin-doctors while Jacob Rees-Mogg is threatening to axe thousands of civil service jobs in the name of cost saving, throwing working people under the bus once again.

“At the start of the pandemic, the Treasury justified their spending on focus groups and polls as an emergency measure to test the impact of different policy options, but now this is little more than a taxpayer-funded vanity exercise for a Chancellor desperate to repair his image.

“He should not need to spend a small fortune on focus groups to hear what the British public are telling him: they want serious action to help with the cost-of-living crisis, starting with the adoption of Labour’s plan for a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas to fund cuts in energy bills.”

Total value of £1 million

While the contract runs until February next year, the award letter states that it can be extended by a further 12 months, with a total value of £1 million.

A spokesperson for the Treasury said: “The Treasury conducts regular polling to help develop and measure the impact and understanding of its policies.

“All polling is subject to the usual tender process, ensuring the best value for taxpayers’ money.”

Last year, Boris Johnson’s Government was accused of “abusing” taxpayers’ cash after it emerged public funds were used to conduct polling on opposition politicians.

Documents released by the Good Law Project showed there were “questions asked” about Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The papers said the questions allowed the Government to assess the “credibility” of its own spokespeople against other political figures.

Related: Trooping the Colour: ‘Multiple injuries’ reported as stand COLLAPSES

Tags: headlineRishi Sunak

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Trust in politicians has fallen to an all time low in the UK

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Sunday 16 August 2020

Grieving mum slapped with £1,600 bill for putting up road safety signs near where teenager daughter was killed 

Government may lift ban on hormone-injected beef in Australia trade deal

Disbelief as Sunak tells MPs he drives an ‘ageing VW Golf’

The 50 greatest storytellers of all time revealed – do you agree?

“We’re f*****”: Government ministers pulled from media rounds as Tory Party considers next move

Best tweets as Matt Hancock was ‘busy saving lives’ during Cummings’ evidence

Teenagers who drink heavily are more at risk of getting aggressive prostate cancer later in life

President of Ghana provides much-needed perspective in these troubling times

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.