Healey and Miliband ridiculed for Bangkok tuk tuk video ahead of tough Budget

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in A video of Chancellor John Healey and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband sampling Thai snacks from the back of a tuk tuk in Bangkok has drawn ridicule, with the Budget less than two weeks away. The clip, posted on social media with upbeat music, shows the two Cabinet ministers riding the three-wheeled vehicle popular with tourists to Thailand and trying local foods. In it, the pair describe the snacks as “better than scampi fries” and “arguably better than pork scratchings”. Mr Miliband also jokes: “Eating on camera has not been my forte, John, but I’m going to have a go.”, in apparent reference to a famous photo of him with a bacon sandwich. The two ministers are in the country for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Tory shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith accused Mr Healey of “pretending to be an influencer” in the Thai capital while the UK grapples with high prices and borrowing costs driven by global crises. Mr Griffith said on X: “Are they serious?! “We have record-high borrowing costs. Fuel prices are through the roof, taxpayers are fleeing Britain, and we have a youth unemployment crisis. “Meanwhile, the Chancellor is pretending to be an influencer…” open image in gallery John Healey speaking to the media after Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivered his keynote speech during the Labour Party conference (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA) The Chancellor had earlier warned the public to be prepared for a tough Budget on October 28. He and Prime Minister Andy Burnham have promised to help families and businesses with cost-of-living pressures, worsened by the US's war with Iran, even as Government borrowing costs have soared. Speaking to the BBC from the IMF meeting, Mr Healey said: “It’s a tough time. People can people can see the global economic conflicts, they know the pressure it’s putting on them, they understand it’s putting pressure on the Government.” He also suggested Government departments may not be given extra cash to cover pay rises for doctors and nurses, saying: “Where we want to do things, we have to make sure that we can pay for them within the budgets that we’ve got and control spending.”