Rachel Reeves has been accused of trying to “distract” from winter fuel payment cuts after announcing plans to replace No 11 paintings with art of or by women.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been accused of trying to ‘distract’ from winter fuel payment cuts (Image: Getty)
The Chancellor revealed the move to replace every painting in the state room at 11 Downing Street at a reception for female business leaders this evening.
She said she wanted to mark the lives of the “amazing women who have gone before us”.
Ms Reeves, the first female chancellor, said: “This is King James behind me, but next week the artwork in this room is going to change.
“Every picture in this room is either going to be of a woman or by a woman – and we’re also going to have a statue in this room of Millicent Fawcett, who did so much for the rights of women.”
But a Conservative Party spokesman said: “Pathetic gesture politics from a Chancellor out of her depth trying to distract from snatching winter fuel payments from 10million pensioners.
“I’m sure the 5.2million elderly women who are facing a choice between heating and eating this Christmas will be very impressed.”
Most paintings around the large room currently feature men, including King James II.
The Chancellor is also said to be planning to take the same approach to choosing artwork to hang in her study in No 11.
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer sparked a row after it emerged he removed a portrait of Margaret Thatcher from his private study in No 10.
The Prime Minister claimed the reason for the move was because he did not like the idea of people staring down at him while he worked and that he preferred landscapes.
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “This is not actually about Margaret Thatcher at all.
“I don’t like images and pictures of people staring down at me. I’ve found it all my life.
“When I was a lawyer I used to have pictures of judges. I don’t like it. I like landscapes.”
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Labour ‘refuses’ to explain how it calculated ‘black hole’ figure driving winter fuel cut
Keir Starmer’s rationale for Winter Fuel payment cuts must be clearer (Image: WPA Pool / Pool)
As pensioners face a winter without the Winter Fuel allowance, the government has refused a Freedom of Information request asking about how they came to the £2billion ‘black hole’ figure.
Despite constantly bringing up the black hole, the government has turned down the Financial Times’ Freedom of Information request asking for further details.
Speaking on The Division Bell podcast, the Express’ Sam Lister said: “There’s a big problem now for the government in that the £2 billion black hole that they endlessly cite – there are questions over that.
“It was refused on the basis that the treasury needs more time to make sure the figures are accurate.”
This comes as MPs voted by 348 to 228 in favour of Rachel Reeves’ plan to take Winter Fuel Payments away from of millions of hard-pressed pensioners this Christmas.
With the Budget scheduled for October 30, the policy sets the stage for more tough measures aimed at tackling the so-called black hole.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have continuously hinted at “difficult decisions” that will need to be made, causing uncertainty for many.
Sam continued: “You’d hope that the figures are accurate as they put them out in July and justified the Winter Fuel cuts on the basis of them.
“If they cannot say with certainty in September that the figures are accurate, people are right to question why they’re doing this in the first place.
“It feels that if you cannot justify this, it doesn’t feel right to then take money off pensioners.”
The Mirror’s Lizzy Buchan responded: “There is a broad question about publishing the rationale behind this sort of thing.
“Keir Starmer had a lot of questions from Rishi Sunak at PMQs about whether an impact assessment had been done about the cut to the Winter Fuel allowance[.]”
“It’s interesting that the government don’t feel that they want to publish that.”
She continued: “Principles of transparency apply across the board, and if you’re going to make these decisions you have to explain why.”
