Labour condemns ‘catalogue of waste’ on government ‘credit cards’

Rishi Sunak attending a G20 meeting in Venice in July 2021. The then chancellor and his aides spent more than £4,500 on hotel rooms. Photograph: Simon Walker/HM Treasury

Spending on government-issued “credit cards” has risen 70% since 2010, when the Conservatives first warned they were generating “hideous waste”, according to a Labour analysis of civil service spending.

Civil servants at 14 of the 15 main government departments spent nearly £150m on government procurement cards (GPCs) in 2021, the figures show, a steep rise since 2010-11, when David Cameron warned about the lax rules and oversight governing their use.