Ed Balls – living it large at the taxpayers expense

When Tom Watson, the Labour Party’s deputy chairman, put in a Freedom of Information Request, asking for the details of the credit card expenses run up by Michael Gove as Education Secretary, he probably didn’t expect, and wouldn’t have wanted, the spending racked up by Ed Balls when he was Education Secretary to be included. But they were included, and perhaps they provide some insight into why there was no money left when the Coalition took over Government.

Ed Balls has responsibility for the expenses signed off on his Education Department Office credit card, and anyone who has worked in the cash-strapped private sector knows that spending on unnecessary treats at a time of recession is likely to lead to a difficult meeting with the Finance Director. Remember, this is not spending for the whole of the Education Department, which has a budget of about £57 billion, but represents expenses run up by his own office.

It’s mostly in the area of dining that Ed Ball’s seemed unable to prevent his team enjoying themselves to the max at our expense. On a trip to New York, while staying at the luxury boutique-styled Benjamin hotel in Manhattan, they treated themselves to more than £820 of food at the Bar Americain. Back home in the UK there were also a couple of orders from Domino’s Pizza, amounting to over £150, as well a single meal costing £450 at the Cinnamon Club, one of the top Indian restaurants in London. But there was also a £165 bill on two occasions at John Lewis, and £420 at La Maison du Cygne, a restaurant in Brussels.

If Ed Ball’s had invested his own money into a private business and wanted to spend his profits in this way it would be fine. But Ed Ball’s office wasn’t a private business, and it didn’t make any money. It’s difficult enough to see taxes being imposed on almost every economic activity in the UK, especially when it is not clear that the money taken from us is not well spent. But to see our taxes being used to wine and dine Ministers and officials in restaurants that most of us won’t get the chance to visit is a difficult pill to swallow.

It’s not a small thing. It reflects an attitude which considers the money taken from the electorate in taxes as being personal and disposable income for members of Government. It’s not. We’ve worked hard to earn it, and we didn’t work to treat Ministers and their colleagues to fine dining experiences.