DOWNING Street has come under fire for spending more than £2.6 million on a new White House-style media briefing room with a Union Jack backdrop.

The images published by ITV News on Monday show the room in No 9 Downing Street has been kitted out with cameras and rows of chairs for journalists.

Union flags flank a lectern from where the Prime Minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, will field reporters’ questions and act as the face of the Government.

Labour said “we were expecting something a bit more impressive” given the sums spent on the long-delayed project.

The images emerged as the HuffPost website reported that the renovations were carried out by Megahertz, a company owned by a Moscow-based firm that has carried out technical work for state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today.

READ MORE: Downing Street spends £2.6 million on renovations for US-style TV briefings

Stratton, a former journalist, said there were “absolutely not” any security concerns, adding: “Clearly, in a contract like that we take all the necessary measures to ensure the highest standards of security.”

But Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader, said: "Boris Johnson is wasting £millions of public money on ugly Tory vanity projects and a luxury refurbishment of his apartment - while imposing a public sector pay freeze and tax rises for millions of workers.

"Yet again, it's one rule for the Tories and another for the rest of us."

The SNP's Westminster Deputy Leader Kirsten Oswald MP said: "It beggars belief that Boris Johnson is wasting millions of pounds of public money on ugly Tory vanity projects, and a luxury refurbishment of his apartment, at the same time as imposing a public sector pay freeze, cuts to Universal Credit and tax rises for millions of workers.

"The Westminster system is broken beyond repair. Yet again, the Tories are revealing themselves to be arrogant and completely out of touch by lavishing taxpayers’ cash on themselves while imposing austerity cuts on the rest of us.

"With both votes SNP at the election on 6th May, we can prioritise action to build a fairer society and put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands - not Boris Johnson's."

Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves said “serious questions” were being raised about who is getting “rushed-through” Government contracts.

“And that’s before we even get to why our nurses are getting a pay cut while the Government spends millions on a media briefing room,” the Labour MP added.

“Given how much money Boris Johnson has thrown at his latest vanity project, we were expecting something a bit more impressive.

“The fact the Government seems to have simply brushed this off with no further transparency or assurances on how they’re spending British taxpayer money is deeply concerning.”

It comes as the Tories cut public sector pay and failed to make the £20 a Universal Credit uplift permanent. Their Budget also saw a pay increase for NHS staff of just 1%.

Labour MP Chris Bryant, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Russia, said: “This new vanity project sounds dodgy. 

“All the details should be published immediately but what shocks me most is that the Johnson government seems to have learnt nothing about the involvement in sensitive UK projects of companies with [links] to autocratic regimes, whether in Russia or in China.”

Last week, a freedom of information (FoI) request revealed the overhaul of No 9 had cost £2,607,767.67, largely excluding VAT.

Costs detailed in the FoI response included £1,848,695.12 for the “main works”, £198,023.75 on “long lead items”, and £33,394.63 on broadband equipment.

The revelation came as Johnson faced pressure over the funding of a separate revamp of his official residence.

The launch of the televised briefings had been anticipated as early as the autumn, but in January No 10 said they were being delayed as ministers planned to hold regular press conferences during the lockdown.

Number 10 plans to hold White House-style daily press briefings, fronted by spokesperson Allegra Stratton.

The cost of the refurbishment was revealed as Johnson faces pressure over the funding of a separation renovation to his official residence.

The televised briefings are believed to have been suggested by the Prime Minister’s former director of communications Lee Cain, who left No10 in December alongside his Vote Leave ally Dominic Cummings.

But he reportedly disagreed with the Prime Minister’s choice of former journalist Allegra Stratton as press secretary to lead the briefings as a Government spokeswoman.

An advert said the salary for the press secretary role would be based on experience, but reports suggested the taxpayer-funded post would pay around £100,000 a year.

The FoI response, which was delayed by several weeks as officials decided whether the disclosure was in the public interest, included £1,848,695.12 for the “main works”.

Other costs included £198,023.75 on “long lead items”, and £33,394.63 on broadband equipment.

The launch of the televised briefings had been anticipated as early as the autumn, but in January No 10 said they were being delayed as ministers planned to hold regular press conferences during the lockdown.

It comes as reports suggested the Prime Minister may be struggling to fund the estimated £200,000 makeover of his No 10 flat, despite his £150,000 salary, and had considered raising cash through a “Downing Street charity”.

READ MORE: Call for Downing Street transparency with refurbishment to cost 'over £200,000'

According to the Daily Mail, a source said a Cabinet Office asked the Tories if the party was helping to fund the renovation, but they did not get an answer.

The newspaper also reported that some senior Tories were concerned that it was not “appropriate” for party funds to be used “in effect, to subsidise the Prime Minister and his partner’s lifestyle”.