A question over the price of a pint of milk left the small business minister a little flustered during a Sky News interview on Friday.
Paul Scully was addressing the concerns about the rising cost of living in the UK when host Samantha Washington questioned just how aware the Tories when it comes to people’s spending during day to day life.
She said: “Some people say that the Conservative Party is way out of touch on the cost of living, just the way people need to live their lives and pay for food on the table.
“I’m just wondering how in touch you are with all of this.
“Can you tell us what the national minimum wage is, for example, and the price of the pint of milk?”
Scully noted immediately that the national minimum wage is £8.91 for over-23s, going up to £9.50 – but then had less success when it came to identifying the price of key groceries.
“I don’t buy my milk in pints these days, I buy the four pint larger cartons,” the minister replied.
“How much is that?” Washington asked.
Looking animated, Scully said: “Sam, it’s not about – well, I buy it as part of a larger – ”
Washington interrupted: “It’s about demonstrating to the public that you are a government that understands the cost of living and the pressures on people’s budgets.”
Scully replied: “Sam, what it’s about is, it’s about making sure that – we have a massive pandemic, as you unwind that pandemic, you get into the global situations of supply chains, of energy costs, that are affecting not just people in Britain but people all over the world.
“We’ve got to make sure that we look after people in this country.
“What we’re doing is targeting, in particular, the lowest-paid, the people on minimum wage, the people who are on universal credit.”
The question about the cost of a pint of milk has been in circulation for years as a test for politicians. At the moment, a pint can go for 55p in Tesco.
Scully’s response did not land that well on social media.
The cost of living is expected to increase dramatically in 2022, according to financial expert Martin Lewis.
He has predicted that the rise in global wholesale gas prices, increasing energy bill price cap, new EU mobile phone roaming charges, increase in National Insurance Contributions, rising rail fares and mortgage interest rates will impact millions.
The Resolution Foundation has also warned that households such expect annual outgoings to increase by £1,200 this year, while Kantar’s data analysts show food shopping bills already went up by £15 in December.
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