This is how Labour tries to stop the boats! Home Office staff blow £10,000 of taxpayer cash at swanky skyscraper restaurant as they entertain Italian officials_Nhy
Home Office staff spent £10,000 of tax-payer cash at a luxurious London restaurant to entertain Italian officials.
The expensive meal that happened at the Searcys at The Gherkin has been labelled an ‘outrageous extravagance’ at a time when the nation’s finances are tight.
After the election, Rachel Reeves warned there was not a ‘huge amount of money’ when speaking of the government’s finances.
Since then the the government cut the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners as well as pensioners as well as dropping a ‘tax bomb’ Budget, hiking employers’ national insurance to raise £25billion for the Treasury.
According to the Sun, civil servants had ‘exceptional permission’ to pay for the meal via Government Procurement Card for the event thrown for their Italian counterparts.
The £10,350 bill in November was declared in a government credit card spending report.
Searcys at The Gherkin offers amazing views of London and its cheapest bottle of wine of wine costs £39. Picture: Top of the bar
The expensive meal happened at the Searcys at The Gherkin has been labelled an ‘outrageous extravagance’ at a time when the nation’s finances are tight
It was claimed by a research and strategy team for a ‘reception and dinner’ for around 45 officials at the UK-Italian meeting, which the Home Office said was vital towards work to stop the Channel boats
It was claimed by a research and strategy team for a ‘reception and dinner’ for around 45 officials at the UK-Italian meeting, which the Home Office said was vital towards work to stop the Channel boats.
The restaurant offers amazing views of London and its cheapest bottle of wine of wine costs £39.
According to the newspaper, Home Office ministers were not present nor aware of the spending and are now looking at getting a sign-off for future departmental hospitality costs.
John O’Connell, of the Tax-Payers’ Alliance, said there’s ‘no excuse’ for this ‘outrageous behaviour’ adding that the person who approved this bill should be given a ‘ good dressing-down.’
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: ‘In recognition of the vital role that Italy played in setting the international security agenda during its presidency of the G7 in 2024, the Home Office hosted a large international delegation of senior Italian security officials for a Joint Strategic Security Committee meeting in November, reciprocating an event that the Italian authorities hosted for the UK the previous year.
‘The event required an appropriate, secure venue and contributed to the development of crucial agreements to enhance information sharing on people smuggling, organised immigration crime and drug trafficking.’
