Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has vigorously denied allegations that he spoke to a working class man and asked him for a donation to Conservative Party funds. The incident is said to have taken place last Sunday at a public house in Osborne’s Cheshire constituency during an otherwise quiet Sunday lunch session. The leading Tory apparently approached the bar and found himself forced to make light conservation with a member of the public while waiting for some drinks. During the brief exchange, the manual worker in question said he would vote Tory at the next election, and in response a flustered Osborne suggested he join and donate to the party.

Rumours are swirling around Westminster that the Shadow Chancellor’s links with the great unwashed go much further than embarrassed smiles and awkward chit-chat as he avoids them in the street or opens to door to them when they are delivering his post. One party insider has alleged that Osborne often proactively engages with the unemployed of his constituency, and that he has been ‘playing a dangerous game and taking risks’ by getting too close to normal people.

At a heated press conference, Osborne hit back at the claims. ‘There is no evidence at all that I have spoken to or solicited donations from ordinary people who work for a living,’ When asked if he had been in the public house on the day in question, he admitted that he had popped in for roast swan and Moet-Chandon, but that he had hired a private room for his family and understood that no-one earning less than GBP150,000 a year would be allowed in that section of the building.

David Cameron defended his friend and colleague outside his expensive house in Notting Hill. ‘I’ve known George for years, and in all that time he has never, I repeat, never, acknowledged the existence of the working class in my presence.’ Under questioning from Conservative Party officials, Osbourne later admitted that he did once talk to an Indian waiter while at University, but only to tell him to stand still while he threw chunks of naan bread at him. But he vigorously denied even talking to any working class people since he became a Conservative MP. ‘Not even my cleaner, nanny or handyman. Although none of them speak English anyway, so there wouldn’t be much point.’