Liz Truss claims £3000 of taxpayers money for a “business” lunch

Oh, £1,400 pounds for a business lunch is nothing.

How about £22k for Polish lessons. For a Polish-born person. Who already speaks fluent Polish.

theworldnews.net/uk-news/taxpayers-foot-bill-for-tory-mp-to-get-ps22k-worth-of-polish-lessons

I do most wholeheartedly agree with you but nothing will change until we have proportional representation, or some kind of voting system that is fair. I lived in Surrey for many years and no matter who I voted for it made no difference, I always felt my vote didn’t count.

I’ve had lunch in Michelin* restaurants in London for much less than £ 70 per head , they quite often have lunch specials, mind you I wasn’t drinking wine at £150 per bottle. Weatherspoons might have been a good choice mind you. Truss was desperate to get US trade deal much trumpeted, hadn’t happened though.

Haha Josiann ..that may have been appropriate though, as this thread is a bit of a piss take.

There are constant leaks from the civil service ( moles within)
Causing drips, even those with no substance such as this meal for trade envoys.
Can anyone really imagine the public getting het up in say, France, it would be what they expect, their politicians wining and dining for trade reasons.
That’s possibly because France ( and many other countries) have a healthy respect for food and a pragmatic approach to what needs to be done.
Chicken nugget, anyone?

lemongrove

???????????
True...it’s what they do all day long.
Not people though...we hope.
Huh! Spell check changed it to ruinations?

I hate to tell you - lowering the tone here - but before I posted my predictive text changed round the r and the u at the front!
Lucky I checked it!

???????????
True...it’s what they do all day long.
Not people though...we hope.
Huh! Spell check changed it to ruinations?

When there are discussions like this people always seem to say, 'Well there are much more important things to worry about.' It seems to me though that the little things add up. There is a drip, drip, drip of little things - meals, decorators, rules broken, Uturns - it all adds up to a big thing to worry about doesn't it?

Or did you actually mean "ruinations"? The meal could cause the ruination of LT too!

lemongrove

GrannyGravy13

Well I am off out to a good restaurant with family now for youngest GC 2nd birthday celebrations, I will leave you all to your ruminations.

Ruinations is too grand a word for it GG13....it’s mainly moaning for the sake of it, faux outrage and fun.?

No it's a brilliant word lemongrove!
Meaning - chewing the cud! Great food imagery.

Eee, by gum! I were lucky to get a bag of chips and scraps!
If that were good enough for me then it’s good enough for them...
coming over ‘ere from the US and wanting fancy food indeed!

GrannyGravy13

Well I am off out to a good restaurant with family now for youngest GC 2nd birthday celebrations, I will leave you all to your ruminations.

Ruinations is too grand a word for it GG13....it’s mainly moaning for the sake of it, faux outrage and fun.?

I very much doubt that dining on site Galaxy would have guaranteed confidentiality! Too many flapping ears from all sides of politics.
A high profile trade delegation from the US would expect to be dined somewhere good and somewhere private.

JaneJudge

I live 30 minutes from central London via train if that helps
Royalty have dined in my local pub

I understand that Pizza Express can boast an elite clientele. They seem pretty good about confidentiality, too, from what I can gather.

As a bonus, you can get money-off vouchers for them - it just takes a quick google.

Well I am off out to a good restaurant with family now for youngest GC 2nd birthday celebrations, I will leave you all to your ruminations.

Galaxy

I dont know if it's a good restaurant though, it has some pretty awful reviews and some good ones to be fair.

Royalty JaneJudge. You've just reminded me that Meghan and Harry had an early date at 5 Hertford Street!

I live 30 minutes from central London via train if that helps
Royalty have dined in my local pub

I dont know if it's a good restaurant though, it has some pretty awful reviews and some good ones to be fair.

I know the price of good restaurants, yes. I also know the price of reasonable ones that are far more suitable as places to have a working lunch on taxpayers' money.

I know how much designer clothes cost too, whether bought in the North, South or Midlands, but that doesn't mean that I would approve of their being paid for out of public money as 'expenses'.

As you say, though, confidentiality may have been an issue, so they may have been better off having lunch on site.

Oh do give it up people!
Where do you live? Do you know the price of good restaurants in cities in the South of England? Obviously not.
I expect it was thought to be a good idea if the restaurant had links with a Tory donor, less likely to be leaks from conversations that ensue and a good price given ( which was given in the end.)
It doesn’t need ‘distraction’ .....all it needs is a sensible approach and a knowledge of what good restaurants actually cost.Some posts on here are laughable.

Sandwiches?

Nice bit of attempted, but failed distraction there Lemon. We are not discussing what Starmer may or may not do and your snarky comment about sandwiches is just that. What is incensing most people is the dismissal of other equally good (and expensive) restaurants in favour of one owned by the Tory donor half brother of Zac goldsmith. Remember him? The failed MP who was given a seat in the House of Lords by his pal Johnson.

Doodledog

*( I will await Starmer announcing there will be cheese sandwiches and crisps only for trade envoys in the future.)Haha.*
Good grief. Whataboutery in the future tense?

Or even in conditional mood.

How do we go from either that expensive meal or McDonald’s? .

Even a stupid person would know that it could have been bought more cheaply, though,

Even the civil servants in her department knew that it could be done more cheaply, and just as effectively, and I would think that they have much more experience of organising high level lunch meetings than does Liz Truss. She over ruled them in favour of a tory donor.

We'll get nothing from the US until they are ready to talk. Truss was wasting her time and our money...

lemongrove

*Doodledog*....as an intelligent woman you know that the price of the meal for trade envoys was a reasonable price and furthermore that a Labour government would do the same (and has done many times) so all this hooha and manufactured outrage is simply point scoring, tedious and daft.

Even a stupid person would know that it could have been bought more cheaply, though, and in the current climate it is surely insensitive at best to spend public money on something that could have been spent in a more equitable manner.

It's not about point scoring (although the 'Whatabout what Starmer might do one day?' is perhaps exactly that?), but about pointing out the contempt or inability to connect with ordinary people that is so often displayed by this government.

As I say, spend your own money how you like, but spending public money is a different ball game.