“This had to be undone, I started work to undo it,” he adds, before going on to say he had overseen increases in local government funding before the 20-second clip ended. The average house price in Tunbridge Wells, Kent was £528,459 at the end of last year, compared to the national average of £271,000. Mr Sunack also raised the issue of central funding rates during televised Tory rallies in Exeter last week, saying they were “not working properly” for rural areas. He pointed out that “very small village primary schools” are being penalized by Whitehall’s spending targets because they are seen as not being as effective as larger ones in towns and cities. The former chancellor said he had already started changing how money for social care and transport is allocated to ensure more goes to the countryside. “We need to make sure the voice of rural Britain is heard loud and clear in Westminster,” he told Tory MPs to applause. An ally of Mr Sunak defended his comments. “Once again this shows that Rishi Sunak fully embraces Treasury orthodoxy, while Truss does not,” they said. “He did not change that as secretary general of the finance ministry. Actions not words.”
‘Scandalous’
Lisa Nandy, the shadow secretary, expressed outrage at his latest remarks. “This leadership race shows the true colors of the Conservatives,” he said. “It is scandalous that Rishi Sunak is openly boasting that he set the rules for funneling taxpayers’ money to the prosperous Tory rations. “This is our money. It should be distributed fairly and spent where it is needed – not used as a bribe to Tory members.” Mr Sunak has previously faced criticism over the distribution of flat-rate cash, which Labor claimed was being deliberately funneled towards Conservative areas. His own constituency of Richmondshire was prioritized for extra funds despite being relatively wealthy. The former chancellor was not involved in this decision. Separately it emerged that 40 of the 45 areas given a share of a £1bn city fund were represented by Tory MPs. But in a damning report, the Commons Public Accounts Committee raised concerns that the way the £3.6bn was distributed was politically motivated. The MP said they were “not convinced by the rationale for choosing some cities and not others” and that the allocations were made on the basis of “vague” criteria.
“One of the weirdest – and dumbest – things I’ve ever heard”
Lord Jacques Goldsmith, the foreign secretary, 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 Mr Sunack “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”. “He says one thing and does another – from raising taxes to trying to block funding for our armed forces and now leveling up,” the Truss supporter said. But Mr Sunak’s supporters rallied around him, with Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, arguing that Boris Johnson had led the party to election victory by pledging to invest in areas “that have been neglected at the expense of urban cities”.
