Children’s minister David Johnston was left scrambling for numbers after being unable to give the figure for child allowance.
He was grilled by Nick Ferrari on this issue when he appeared on LBC Radio to promote Tory plans to extend the child benefit system.
The presenter asked: “Just for my listeners who are not familiar, so they can get full details, how much is child allowance?
Mr Johnston replied: “Err, that, I’m afraid, I don’t know. It’s actually not a Department for Education policy this. It’s a DWP one and I’m afraid I don’t know the exact…”
But the presenter stressed: Sorry, is your title Minister for Children?
Mr Johnston replied: “It is Minister for Children. Yes, Nick.”
Pressed again on the sums, he added: “Well, we don’t run the benefits, I’m afraid. You’re right, I should have found out before I came on here.”
But Mr Ferrari continued: “So I have to tell you, as the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, what child allowance is. What sort of job do you think you’re doing here, Minister?”
Mr Johnston said: “Well, look, I’m sorry that I don’t know the amount of it. You are quite right about it.”
The presenter, voicing astonishment, added: “Well, I’ll tell the listeners... It’s £25.60 for the first child, and £16.95 pence for each additional child.”
Mr Johnston, who is standing again to be MP for Wantage, later appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain when he was asked about “child tax allowance” given the earlier exchanges on LBC.
After Rishi Sunak had apologised for leaving the 80th anniversary of D-Day ceremony in France early, Mr Johnston said: “Going back to the theme of apologising when you have made a mistake, I apologise for not knowing that figure.
“It’s not run by the Department for Education, where I am a minister.
“It’s run by HMRC.”
But pressed that he was announcing a policy on child tax allowance, he added: “I am the minister who is talking about this, on that show I did apologise for that.”
He then gave the figures: “£25.60 for the eldest child and then £16.95 a week for the children after that.”
But asked whether if the Tories were seriously preparing for Government, he should have know thosefigures, he added: “I was laughing at my own mistake.
“The point about child benefit is that it’s not in the children’s minister’s role or indeed the Department for Education’s role that was why when asked what it is the precise rate of child benefit that I did not know the answer, I now do know the answer.”
He stressed he was able to answer questions about the funding for the extension to child benefit.
But Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: “This Conservative minister needs to go back to the classroom.
“If they can’t even explain their own policies correctly, how can they be trusted to govern the country.”
The Conservative plans would mean that six-figure earners could keep more of their child benefit.
The party unveiled plans to raise the high income child benefit tax charge threshold to £120,000 - and base it per households rather than individuals.
Once parents or their partners’ income tops £80,000, they cannot keep any of their child’s benefit.
