Will the ‘GPC files’ attack on Tory expenses come back to bite Labour?

Opposition say new data highlights Conservatives’ ‘lavish spending’ but critics warn accusations are overblown

Angela Rayner
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner was forced to defend her own expenses
(Image credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Labour has accused the Conservatives of promoting a culture of “lavish spending” after an investigation into the use of government-issued credit cards in 2021 – but commentators have claimed the move could backfire.

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Jamie Timson is the UK news editor, curating The Week UK's daily morning newsletter and setting the agenda for the day's news output. He was first a member of the team from 2015 to 2019, progressing from intern to senior staff writer, and then rejoined in September 2022. As a founding panellist on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, he has discussed politics, foreign affairs and conspiracy theories, sometimes separately, sometimes all at once. In between working at The Week, Jamie was a senior press officer at the Department for Transport, with a penchant for crisis communications, working on Brexit, the response to Covid-19 and HS2, among others.