Reporter asks prime minister if expensive clothing worn for photoshoot shows her distance from general public.

Theresa May has been challenged over her decision to wear a £995 pair of leather trousers for a newspaper photoshoot by a reporter on a flight to Bahrain, but sidestepped the question to insist she was working for everyone in Britain.

The prime minister was interrogated after it emerged she wore the trousers and a pair of £295 Burberry trainers when photographed by the Sunday Times last month. May was also questioned about her choice of goose for Christmas dinner rather than a traditional turkey, but replied that her fashion choices or festive menu did not mean she was distant from the general public.

Giving a look of mild exasperation, May responded: “I stood on the steps of Downing Street and said what I did about the importance of a country that works for everyone because that’s what I have heard from people as I’ve gone around the country, as I’ve met people in a whole variety of circumstances.