A leaked video showed Mr Sunak bragging to Conservative Party members in affluent Tunbridge Wells that he had diverted money to towns like theirs. Labor has now written to the leveling secretary calling on him to investigate the comments. In her letter to Greg Clark, Labour’s shadow leader Lisa Nandey said: “This is deeply concerning. The former chancellor admits he set the rules to funnel taxpayers’ money to wealthy parts of the country at the expense of areas he admits are “deprived”. “Public money must always be distributed fairly and spent in areas where it is most needed. It is completely unacceptable for ministers to use taxpayers’ funds to secure political gain for themselves or their party.” He called on him to urgently investigate the rationale for the changes and what assessment had been made of their impact. He also asked his department to publish measures that had been put in place to ensure that the allocation of funds from the second round of the Equalization Fund was fair. Ministers have been accused of using these and other funds to prop up seats the party wanted to win in the next general election. In the footage, which was obtained by The New Statesman, Mr Sunack claimed Treasury types had “pushed all the funding into deprived urban areas” of the UK before he became chancellor. He said he had started to change how the money is allocated to ensure more places like the south-east city get “the funding they deserve”. Senior Tories also criticized Mr Sunak for the comments. Foreign Secretary Zak Goldsmith said: “This is one of the strangest – and stupidest – things I have ever heard from a politician.” Jake Berry, chairman of Tory MPs’ Northern Inquiry Group, said that in public Sunak “claims he wants to raise the standard of the north – but here he is bragging that he is trying to channel vital investment away from deprived areas”. But Sunak’s supporters defended his remarks. Tees Valley Tory mayor Ben Houchen claimed Boris Johnson had led the party to victory in 2019 with his pledge to invest in areas “that have been neglected at the expense of urban cities”. The row comes just a day after it was revealed that Sunak’s rival for the No 10 keys, Liz Truss, was facing the possibility of the first major investigation amid claims she failed to declare “dark donations” to her leadership campaign. Labor has asked the cabinet secretary to launch an inquiry into the funding of the so-called ‘Fizz with Liz’ champagne dinner.
