RISHI Sunak was blasted for spending £29 million on a festival of Brexit “while weans go hungry at home and abroad”.
Details of the funding for Festival UK 2022 - launched by Theresa May in 2018 at the height of Brexit talks - were announced as part of the Chancellor’s spending review.
However, Sunak also revealed that the UK Government was slashing its overseas aid budget and introducing a public sector pay freeze.
On Tuesday, the Chancellor had shared photos of him - wearing a hoody - while supposedly preparing the review.
Responding for the SNP, Alison Thewliss told MPs: “The spending review is an important opportunity and an important test and instead of pausing for photographs in his favourite hoodie the Chancellor should have been listening to those who are struggling.
“Twenty-nine million pounds for a festival of Brexit while weans go hungry at home and abroad just about sums this tawdry government up. Reneging on the 0.7% aid commitment while the world struggles in a Covid pandemic is just cruel.”
Thewliss also called on Sunak to announce “a real living wage – £9.50 an hour as set by the Living Wage Foundation – not his ‘pretendy’ living wage”.
In the review, Sunak confirmed the national living wage will increase by 19p to £8.91 an hour.
The Chancellor said full-time workers above the age of 23 will see their wages rise by £345 next year.
In response, Sunak said: “She asked about my favourite hoodie, I can tell her it is not the one in the picture, but actually the Kickstart hoodie that was given to me by (Therese Coffey) that I wear with pride.”
He added: “I am glad that the OBR today have also joined with the IMF and the Bank of England in commending the economic response of this Government and indeed recognising and stating explicitly that the interventions that we have put in place have reduced the level of unemployment, saved people’s jobs.”
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