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Britain's opposition, the Labour Party is set to launch a campaign targetting the Conservatives for indiscriminate spending of taxpayers' money on luxury travel and hotels. Labour is launching the campaign following an analysis of government spending.

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“As Conservative ministers once again reach into the pockets of taxpayers to dine out on a five-star luxury lifestyle, families up and down the country are sick with anxiety about whether their pay cheque will cover the weekly shop," said Angela Rayner, labour party deputy leader. 

"Far from actually governing, Conservative ministers are living the high life and treating taxpayers like a cash machine.”

The Keir Starmer-led opposition is expected to launch an intense social media campaign to highlight how Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Tory leaders used public money 'like a cash machine'. 

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The findings of the dossier compiled by the Labour were published on www.theGPCfiles.com and showed how the use of Government Procurement Cards (GPC) had increased under the current Tory regime. 

Read more: Questions raised on Sunak for spending thousands on helicopter trips since becoming PM

Notably, a GPC is Whitehall's version of a contactless debit card that is used by different government agencies and their employees to buy goods and services. 

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The report stated that as of March 2022, the average spend per GPC had more than doubled from 2010. 

"As of 31 March 2022, there were 8,666 GPCs in circulation across the 14 departments examined, and – where relevant – their executive agencies, compared to the almost 11,000 recorded by the NAO for those departments in October 2011. That means the average annual spend per card for those departments has more than doubled from $9,319 (£7,727) in 2010/11 to $20,251 (£16,790) in 2021."

The report is especially severe on Sunak for his rich expenditure during his time in the office as country's chancellor. 

Read more: UK: Rishi Sunak accused of wasting $14 billion in debt interest payments

The Tory leader stayed in Hotel Danieli, a five-star hotel in Venice when attending the G20 meeting of finance ministers in July 2021. More than $5,400 was spent on the accommodation of Sunak and his aides. 

It adds that Sunak's Treasury group spent as much as $30,572 (£25,347) on buying IT/office equipment in March 2021 alone whilst a fortune was spent on training courses. 

"In a different type of bulk buying, the Cabinet Office and Treasury spent a combined total of $201,584 (£167,131) in the month of March 2021 on training course fees, 178 per cent more than the average of $72,513 (£60,120) they spent on training in the other eleven months of the year," the report added. 

WATCH | Rishi Sunak's tenure amidst UK's economic crisis, will he tackle soaring energy bills, inflation?

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Similarly, newly crowned Tory chairman Greg Hands is also accused of shelling taxpayers' money to attend a private gathering of European policymakers. 

With the UK's economy taking a beating in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the Labour party is attempting to use this campaign to inflict damage upon Tories and their credibility. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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