Chancellor John Healey has been criticised for a video showing him and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband tasting Thai snacks in a tuk tuk in Bangkok, less than two weeks before a challenging Budget.
Tory shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith accused Mr Healey of “pretending to be an influencer” in the Thai capital while the UK grapples with high prices and borrowing costs driven by global crises.
The clip on social media, set to upbeat music, shows the two Cabinet ministers sampling local foods while riding the three-wheeled vehicle popular with tourists to Thailand.
Mr Griffith said on X: “Are they serious?!
“We have record-high borrowing costs. Fuel prices are through the roof, taxpayers are fleeing Britain, and we have a youth unemployment crisis.
“Meanwhile, the Chancellor is pretending to be an influencer…”
Mr Healey and Mr Miliband are in the Asian country for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
In the video, the pair say the Thai snacks are “better than scampi fries” and “arguably better than pork scratchings”.
Mr Miliband, in apparent reference to a famous photo of him with a bacon sandwich, jokes: “Eating on camera has not been my forte, John, but I’m going to have a go.”
John Healey speaking to the media after Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivered his keynote speech during the Labour Party conference (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA)
PA Wire
Earlier, the Chancellor warned the public to be prepared for a tough Budget on October 28.
He and Prime Minister Andy Burnham have promised to help families and businesses with cost-of-living pressures, worsened by the US’s war with Iran, even as Government borrowing costs have soared.
Speaking to the BBC from the IMF meeting, Mr Healey said: “It’s a tough time. People can people can see the global economic conflicts, they know the pressure it’s putting on them, they understand it’s putting pressure on the Government.”
He also suggested Government departments may not be given extra cash to cover pay rises for doctors and nurses, saying: “Where we want to do things, we have to make sure that we can pay for them within the budgets that we’ve got and control spending.”