A senior Labour Party politician has been accused of hypocrisy after photoshopping a picture of herself on an aeroplane in an apparent attempt to cover up that she was travelling in a luxury seat.
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, who would be in charge of the UK economy should the left-wing party come into power, has reportedly been caught trying to obscure that she was travelling in business class — once known as first class — on a British Airways flight from London to New York.
The Labour MP posted a picture on Twitter of herself on the aircraft on Sunday evening, while writing: “With a Labour Government, we will restore our economic dignity at home and abroad. Tonight, I fly to the US to start that work.”
However, internet sleuths quickly realised that the picture, which included her boarding pass, revealed that she was sitting in the luxury seat 3K. In an attempt to avoid accusations of hypocrisy, the post was deleted and re-uploaded the photo with her seat number blurred out, according to Westminster gossip site Guido Fawkes, which estimated the cost of the ticket to be between £2,200 and £8,000.
Yet, the damage was already done, so the second edited photo from her account.
The incident comes as Labour, which has of late become the party of the metropolitan liberal elites, forgetting its roots standing up for the working man, is attempting to reconnect with its working-class roots in order to seize power back from the Conservatives in the upcoming general election. The left-wing party has also recently criticised the governing Tory party — not without evidence — for jet-setting around the world on the taxpayer’s dime.
The Labour Party refused to disclose who funded the luxury travel for Ms Reeves, however, a spokesman told The Telegraph: “All donations relating to the funding of this visit will be declared in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests in the usual manner.”
“Rachel Reeves is visiting the US to promote Labour’s economic plans for the future, strengthen our relationships and rebuild confidence in the UK after the Conservatives’ catastrophic economic crash last autumn,” the spokesman added.
Commenting on the apparent hypocrisy from the left, Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: “Start spreading the news. When it comes to luxury travel, with Labour they still expect to be top of the list – it’s a case of do as I say, not as I do.
“Whilst they claim they want to make a brand new start of it, when it comes down to it, to be frank, they are still the same old hypocrites they’ve always been.”
