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GEORGE Osborne’s own department blew almost a grand in taxpayers’ cash on a breakfast on the same day that he slashed tax credits.
The Morning Star can reveal that aides who helped the Chancellor prepare and present the cuts budget were treated to a complimentary breakfast on budget day.
A freedom of information request found officials gobbled down £972 worth of publicly funded food at the Treasury on July 8.
Hours later, Mr Osborne revealed cuts to working tax credits that could see three million families lose £1,200 a year on average.
The Chancellor told the Commons that “many difficult but necessary decisions are required to save money.”
But the sum his department spent on breakfast would be enough to keep a family out of poverty for a year.
Mr Osborne has claimed the tax credit cuts are offset by the introduction of a higher minimum wage of £7.20 on the same day.
It would still, though, take a worker on the minimum wage 135 hours to earn enough to cover the bill for the Treasury breakfast.
These embarrassing details of Treasury spending are revealed by the Star on the day that Mr Osborne is set to cut funding for some public services by 30 per cent.
People’s Assembly national secretary Sam Fairbairn said our findings laid bare the Tories’ double standards on spending.
“The amount spent on this breakfast is a reflection of how the current government believe in one rule for them and another for everyone else,” he said.
“Later that day, George Osborne delivered a budget that will see some of the most poor and vulnerable people in society pushed into destitution.
“It’s unacceptable and it is right to highlight this abuse of the taxpayers’ money.”
The Treasury insisted that no ministers were among the 162 staff treated to taxpayer-funded food and could not say what was on the menu.
In a statement, the department defended the breakfast as a “small way of acknowledging the hard work of staff in preparing the budget document.”
Many were “required to work overnight or from the early morning on the day,” it added.
