Liz Truss’s lunches & dinners. She found the magic money tree (but only for herself & associates)

Liz Truss’s lunches & dinners. She found the magic money tree (but only for the few)

Questions were asked about why Liz Truss did not declare the cost of a dinner she held for Tory MPs at 5 Hertford Place on 26th October 2021:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62424931?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_custom2=twitter&at_medium=custom7&at_custom4=twitter&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_campaign=64&at_custom3=%40BBCPolitics

It’s a West End club she appears to frequent in various capacities

The issue has resurfaced as the Labour Party published a file of Government expenses claims that did include the visit to 5 Hertford Place below.

Guardian research has shown that while she was Foreign Secretary in Boris Johnson’s Government (that’s three Prime Ministers ago in 2021). In the 11 months from October 2021 to September 2022 the Foreign Office spent £30m on credit cards, 50% more than the last 11 months of Dominic Raab’s time in the job. Much of this spending was on restaurants and bars

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/feb/14/liz-truss-oversaw-jump-in-credit-card-spending-at-foreign-office?amp;amp;amp

Truss claimed £1308 to cover a 2021 lunch for herself a US Government official and it would seem some others. It rightly raised considerable criticism.

A significant part of the cost of the lunch appears to have been more for wine and gin than the food. There were two bottles at £65 and three bottles at £51 as well as two dry gins

Obviously 5 Hertford St is not the kind of place I frequent or would be allowed into (although I have been in some similar West End clubs over the years by invitation for some event or other- the beer is always crap). Its owner is Robin Birley a donor to UKIP and the Tory Party and it seems to be frequented by assorted members of the upper class and Tory MPs.

Given that it’s a members club- yearly cost £1800 (possibly more now) that’s not surprising and nor is any detail of what its actually like easy to find. There are it seems several bars, a downstairs night club and a cigar room. What reviews that can be found suggest that the cocktails are decent (if expensive) but the food (the point of lunch I would suggest) seems to be thought at best OK and certainly over-priced even compared to similar places in the West End.

The wages paid to those who actually keep the place running is another matter. Mirror reporter Dan Bloom tweeted that kitchen porters are paid £10.55 an hour. An advert for an assistant chef ( 4 shifts 9am-11pm a week) indicated a salary of ‘up to’ £25,000- that’s a year btw not a week.

None of that unfortunately is out of line with the notoriously poorly paid hospitality sector.

Clearly 5 Hertford St is somewhere that people go to be seen and to see others of a like-minded world outlook. Some of Truss’s dining at 5 Hertford Place appears to have been at our expense. Truss clearly found the magic money tree but only for herself and a select few