£275k a year talking shop

MORE than £275,000 is spent each year on sending representatives – including John Prescott – for meetings at the Strasbourg body.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is part of the Council of Europe, a human rights group which also oversees the European Court of Human Rights. It is unconnected to the EU.

Latest figures show it cost £181,508 to send MPs and peers to the four main PACE meetings in Strasbourg last year. A further £94,043 went on travel, accommodation and costs for its smaller committee meetings, which took place in locations across the globe including Marrakech, Tirana, Tallinn, New York and Florence.

Lord Prescott claimed £1,330 for a one-day meeting in Florence in 2016.