£137k bill to teach MPS languages

TAXPAYERS are shelling out thousands of pounds to fund foreign language lessons for MPS.

The latest figures reveal £137,445 has been spent teaching MPS a range of languages, including Arabic, Icelandic and Japanese.

While just £2,839 was spent on the services in 2015-16, they have grown in popularity and cost £33,931 in 2020-21.

In the past year,tory MP Daniel Kawczynski’s

Polish lessons cost £8,244; Conservative MP Stuart Anderson studied Punjabi (£4,059); Labour MP Nia Griffith also studied Polish (£3,823); and Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire studied Arabic (£3,411).

Mr Kawczynski has been taking Polish lessons since 2016/17, costing the taxpayer £22,000.

Danielle Boxall, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “This is a lot of money for language courses that many taxpayers couldn’t afford for themselves.

“If MPS want to learn another language they should pay for classes out of their own pocket.”