The Tory Children's Minister was forced to admit he doesn't know how much child benefit is in a disastrous radio interview.
David Johnson was caught out when he went on LBC to trumpet a Conservative election promise to allow more wealthy parents to claim the allowance. But asked by host Nick Ferrari how much the benefit is worth, he said: “Errrr. That I'm afraid I don't know. It’s actually not a Department for Education policy this. It’s a DWP one and I’m afraid I don’t know the exact…”
The presenter interrupted, saying: "Sorry, is your title Minister for Children?" Mr Johnston replied sheepishly: “It is Minister for Children. Yes, Nick.”
LBC presenter Nick Ferrari was astonished that the Minister for Children went on the radio to talk about child benefit but has no idea how much it is"And you don't know what the child allowance is?” Mr Ferrari pressed. The top Tory said: “We don't run the benefits I'm afraid. You're right. I should have found out before I came on here.”
The LBC host went on: “So I have to tell you as the Minister for Children what child allowance is? What sort of job do you think you're doing here, minister?” The Tory Minister responded: “Well, look, I'm sorry that I don't know the amounts.” Mr Ferrari said: “Astonishing.”
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Eligible parents get £25.60 a week for their first child and £16.95 a week for children after that.
The Tories want to raise the high-income child benefit tax charge threshold to £120,000. Under the current rules, parents start to lose the allowance if they earn more than the £60,000 threshold, and it is taken away entirely when someone's income exceeds £80,000.
Shadow Children's Minister Helen Hayes said: "“Millions of families across the country rely on child benefit to make ends meet. It is astounding that the Conservative Minister is so out of touch he does not understand how important child benefit is or what the current rates are.
“On July 4, the choice is clear – a reckless and out of touch Tory government, who aren’t even across the details of their own policies, or a Labour Party who can deliver the change Britain needs putting stability and families at the heart of our plans.”
Liberal Democrat Education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: “This Conservative Minister needs to go back to the classroom. If they can’t even explain their own policies correctly, how can they be trusted to govern the country."
The blunder comes after Rishi Sunak make the most serious error of the campaign by skipping out of the D-Day commemorations early to record a TV interview.
The PM was forced into a grovelling apology this morning as fury mounted over his decision to abandon veterans to revive his flagging General Election campaign.
He said: "On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise."
Tory veterans minister Johnny Mercer criticised the PM for leaving early, saying it was a "significant mistake". Speaking to The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots show, he said: "I get the outrage. It's a mistake. It's a significant mistake for which he's apologised.
"But I'm also not going to join the howls of the fake veterans supporters who say he doesn't treat veterans correctly, because it's not correct. He knows this is a mistake. He takes responsibility for everything because he's the Prime Minister."
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Mr Sunak attended a Franco-British event in the morning but left Foreign Secretary David Cameron to represent him at a major event at Omaha beach attended by world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden. Labour leader Keir Starmer attended the event.
ITV's Paul Brand confirmed on News at Ten last night that the PM returned from Normandy to do the interview. He said ITV was interviewing all the party leaders and had been working to secure a date with Mr Sunak for some time.
"Today was the slot they offered us," he said. "We don't know why."
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