The media briefing room, originally added to Downing Street by Boris Johnson at a whopping cost of £2.6 million, has recently been renovated by Labour for £80,000.
The blue backdrop, blue panels and blue carpet have all been replaced with grey, to form a ‘politically neutral’ setting.
I think the renovations make sense to some degree, and I empathise with Labour’s need to distance themselves from the previous 14 years of Tory rule.
I also think media focus on the refurbishment is perhaps more an attempt to discredit the government then any genuine criticism of the party’s real faults. For example, maybe Labour could squash the Tory-lookalike rumours by scrapping the 2-child benefit cap, imposing a wealth tax and nationalising public services.
Anyway, I digress.
Following the criminal misspending of taxpayers’ money by the Conservatives, this £80,000 seems like tuppence. But it is also important that we do not compare finances to a Tory government that lost 75% of the £12 billion it spent on overpriced or inadequate PPE in the first year of the pandemic.
This is a lot of money to spend on the refurbishing of a room. Although I understand the importance of clearing out the Tory branding, £80,000 would be a huge amount of money for any of the 2.3 million people in the UK that used a food bank in 2023/24.
I do think it’s important that we stay critical of all government costs; even if their £80,000 on a vanity refurb is 32 times less than the £2.6m the Tories spent on the room. But in the grand scheme of things, I’d rather we held Labour accountable for things that matter more.