Penny Mordaunt jokes she believed SNP were behind Glasgow's Willy Wonka experience due to 'high cost', 'poor return'

The Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow has earned global headlines – for all the wrong reasons

Penny Mordaunt joked she believed the SNP were behind the viral Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow due to its “high cost” and “poor return”.

The Commons Leader drew upon the widely mocked “immersive experience”, which has been condemned by visitors, as she hit back at criticism from the SNP over the use of public funds.

SNP business spokesman Richard Thomson raised concerns over £15,000 of taxpayers’ cash being used to cover damages paid to an academic that UK science secretary Michelle Donelan falsely accused of supporting Hamas.

Gene Wilder's iconic role as chocolate factory owner Willy Wonka - but it has been rated a far cry from what parents found at this event

He told business questions: “Could we have a debate on the limits of privilege and specifically whether it’s the policy of the government that ministers can say whatever they like outside of Parliament and they will be financially indemnified from the consequences of doing so by the taxpayer?

“And whether she considers that it’s now the job of the taxpayer to underwrite financially the Conservative Party’s culture wars whenever they overstep the mark.”

Ms Mordaunt replied: “I think it is rather cheeky of [Mr Thomson] to seek to lecture us about use of public funds – I refer him to what I said about the Secretary of State for Science earlier on – the SNP are legendary in this respect.

“I had wrongly assumed actually that the appalling Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow had been laid on by the SNP, given its high cost, poor return, and the fact that the police were called. But however, the presence of a bouncy castle put paid to that theory, given that bouncy castles have been banned by SNP local authorities on health and safety grounds.”

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt. Picture: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire

Ms Mordaunt used the session to defend Ms Donelan and insist “considerable oversight” had been given on the matter.

Elsewhere, Ms Mordaunt accused shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell of “channelling Elmer Fudd” after the Labour frontbencher criticised the lack of any surprises in the Budget, sometimes known as a rabbit out of the hat in Westminster circles.

The Commons leader said: “Bugs [Bunny] may not have been in the Chancellor’s hat, but support for businesses large and small was, help for households was, tax cuts for working people was, help for single-earner families was, and holding down the price of fuel at the pump through another fuel duty freeze was.”

Ms Powell had described much of the Budget as “old news” because it had been trailed in the media, and asked about future funding for victims of the Horizon and infected blood scandals.

The shadow Commons leader said: “The slowness in righting these wrongs is raised here most weeks. The business and trade select committee’s highly critical report out this morning calls for a legally binding timetable to deliver redress to subpostmasters, taking it completely out of the hands of the Post Office. Does she agree?

“Given everything the Leader has said on both these injustices, does she understand the anger that no new money has been allocated or a timetable given for these compensation schemes in yesterday’s Budget?”

Ms Mordaunt said: “It is not the intention to kick the can down the road on this. The Paymaster General and I have a weekly update on this, he is working very hard.”