MPS’ BARGAIN FOOD & BOOZE

..at £9m cost to taxpayer

EXCLUSIVE MPS are tucking into bargain bacon sarnies and beer in the Commons while their constituents turn to foodbanks amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Tory Lee Anderson, who criticised strugglers and questioned the need for foodbanks, can join his fellow MPS enjoying cheap food and drink as a perk on top of their £84,144 salaries.

In Parliament’s bars and restaurants, a coffee costs 69p, a bacon sandwich £1.70, smoked salmon £2.96, and a pint of Peroni is £3.77.

If MPS had to pay the going rate near the Parliament building, a Greggs bacon roll is £2.35 and a flat white coffee is £2.15. And at the nearby Red Lion pub, fish and chips is £18, a hot smoked salmon salad is £17 and a pint of Peroni costs £5.55.

A Freedom of Information request by the Mirror shows that prices at Parliament rose 3.4% in April, for the first time since 2019. But it still left MPS with vastly reduced food bills, just as their pay rose by 2.7% to £84,144.

The 2020/21 records reveal that catering services made a £9.1m loss, to be met by the taxpayer.

A House of Commons spokesman blamed the pandemic for the loss. He said: “Some catering outlets were closed and fewer staff and visitors were on the estate, resulting in lower sales.”

The MPS’ 2.7% pay rise came in the same week that workers were hit by a 1.25% National Insurance rise. PM Boris Johnson and

Labour leader Keir Starmer said MPS should not get the pay rise.

But their remuneration is set by an independent body, which says it should be in line with other public sector pay.

Richard Lloyd, chairman of Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, said: “It is right that MPS are paid fairly.”

Mr Anderson, 55, MP for Ashfield, in Nottinghamshire, this week claimed people should learn to budget and cook from scratch.

But one constituent, Ian Lane, 78, said: “It’s alright for him getting subsidised food and drink. In the real world, people are struggling.”

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