Taxpayer spends MILLIONS on subsidising lavish MPs’ food and drink

TAXPAYERS stumped up £2.5million last year to subsidise MPs' cheap food and booze, as the bill rose for the first time since 2012.

Hard-working taxpayers forked out an extra £100,000 from the previous year’s bill of £2.4million to subsidise plush bars and restaurants for politicians and parliamentary workers.

While feeding and watering pampered Peers in the House of Lords cost taxpayers more than £1.2million, bringing the total bill for politicians’ food and drink to £3.7million.

The massive cost has sparked demands for reforms to taxpayer-funded dining.

The Taxpayers' Alliance's campaign manager Harry Davis said: “It is irritating for people to know that their cash is still being used to subsidise the food and drink being enjoyed by MPs and peers while the Government is still spending way beyond its means.

“The parliamentary authorities need to reform the catering arrangements so that hard-pressed taxpayers are no longer propping up what ought to be profitable outlets.

“Before he became Prime Minister, David Cameron declared that he would end these subsidies, so it is deeply regrettable that seven years later and with him now out of office, the subsidies are still there.”

The subsidy for food and drink in the Lords has fallen in recent years, from £1.95 million in 2013-14 to £1.34million in 2014-2015.

Barons and Baronesses can dine in wood-panelled splendour in seven different food and drink outlets.

A House of Lords spokesman said: “The catering subsidy was reduced by more than 10 per cent in the last financial year and has been reduced by 39 per cent in cash terms since 2007.

"We are working hard to reduce the subsidy even further. Our catering services meet the needs of a working House of Parliament.

"Due to the unpredictable nature of sittings of the House, and periods where the House doesn’t sit and so revenue is not generated, a subsidy is unavoidable.”

The spokesman added: “We also pay all staff at least the London living wage and provide workplace pensions to our catering and retail service staff.

"We are proud to do so but it means our costs are higher than some commercial restaurants.”

A House of Commons spokeswoman said: “In any General Election year MPs and staff spend more time away from Parliament.

“As a result, there is less demand on catering services leading to fewer sales and an increase in our costs.

“We know how important it is to continue to drive down our expenses and overall catering costs have more than halved since the beginning of the last Parliament due to major improvements in how we operate.

“In 2015/16 we significantly increased sales to outside parties through private hire and afternoon teas.

“These profits kept the Election-year rise in costs as low as possible at 3.7%.

“The Commons catering service serves around 14,500 Parliamentary pass-holders as well as thousands of visitors to Parliament every year, but not all our venues are able to make a profit due to the irregular hours and unpredictability of parliamentary business.

“Our food and drink prices are regularly benchmarked against similar outlets outside Parliament, and the catering service continuously seeks to reduce costs and generate more income.”