Rishi Sunak is to appear on a bonus edition of ITV’s Million Pound Cube in an effort to raise much-needed funds for the Treasury.

Announcing the move, the Chancellor said he ‘hadn’t anticipated taking this step’ but that the government’s mishandling of Covid on the back of their mishandling of Brexit, mishandling of public services and mishandling of the economy had led to some ‘tough decisions’ having to be made.

Mr Sunak hasn’t yet decided who to take as his partner but said that many of his colleagues have said they’ll be happy to join him.

Dr Liam Fox was the first to put his name forward with the bold claim that, of all game shows he’s ever seen, beating the million pound cube will be ‘the easiest in history’.

Michael Gove is also keen, saying he’ll be perfect for any games that involve stabbing someone in the back with your eyes closed. And Jacob Rees-Mogg said he’s instructed his nanny to practice catching and throwing in readiness for him to appear on the show.

It’s not the first time government ministers have tried to prop up the public purse by taking part in game shows. Theresa May was unceremoniously booted off Catchphrase after answering ‘Brexit means Brexit’ to every clip, Chris Grayling tried his hand on The Crystal Maze but failed in his quest to successfully leave an unlocked room using nothing but a door handle, and Matt Hancock applied to Pointless before realising that was the name of the show and not a desired attribute for contestants.

A spokesman for ITV said they look forward to the special show and they intend to simplify many of the challenges to make sure ministers have ‘a fair chance of winning the million’, adding that ‘should they manage to successfully beat the cube they will get exactly what they deserve for all their efforts – excuses, a lack of equipment and a round of applause once a week on a Thursday.’