Why PM won’t be lunching at Sultan’s hotel

The Police Federation is the latest organisation to cancel an event at the Dorchester hotel because its owner, the Sultan of Brunei, has introduced a law punishing gay men with death by stoning in the oil-rich state.

Now I hear the Tory party is moving its influential Spring Lunch — to be addressed by Theresa May — from the London venue.

With an ominous poll yesterday suggesting Labour is on course for an election victory, the lunch — with 600 guests paying £250 a head — is expected to bring in up to £1 million, via donations and fund-raising initiatives, for key Tory battleground campaigns.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy hunt called the Brunei law a ‘backward step’ and rescheduled an event he was to address at The Dorchester last week. however, there has

been a huge row at Tory HQ over the Spring Lunch, with some calling for it to be cancelled altogether. Instead, an alternative venue is being lined up for the event on May 21.

My mole says: ‘ The lunch is a sell-out and with the prospect of an early election, the marginal seats fund is vitally important. We had to decide if we couldn’t move it to an alternative premises, could we afford to cancel it?’

In a word, no!