Voters visiting Parliament are charged six times more for lunches than their MPs.
Visitors pay £6.05 for a bowl of soup in the Jubilee Café – the only restaurant open to the public. But MPs – who all earn a basic salary of £86,584 – can pick up the same food for a fraction of the price in private dining rooms down the corridor.
The heavily subsidised Members Tea Room in the House of Commons offers MPs and peers a bowl of soup and a bread roll for just £1.10 – cheaper than a tin from the supermarket. The House of Commons has defended the rip off, claiming it sets prices for the cafe ‘in line with other tourist attractions.”
READ MORE: Lucy Letby's 'extreme' prison hell and disturbing child killers she's locked up with
READ MORE: Homeless man sleeps in woods as UK seaside town is so dangerous 'junkies will stab you'
Although the House says that MPs food isn’t substituted ‘in the commercial sense of the word’, their public accounts show that in the year 21/22, the catering service made a £7.5 million loss selling cheap food and drink to those working in the corridors of power – a bill picked up by the taxpayer.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to cough up cash so MPs can eat for cheap. While punters have to fork out full price for food, they’re subsiding cut-price meals for people in the corridors of power. It’s time to scrap food subsidies so parliamentarians can pay their way like the rest of us.”
Those working in Parliament are able to eat cheap food across 12 different restaurants and cafes. The Terrace Cafeteria – open only to those working inside the Houses of Parliament – offers a seared tuna steak salad box with mango and chilli Salsa, baby spinach and fusilli pasta for a bargain £4.22 – while members of the public who visit the building are charged £6.55 for a salad box.
A regular cappuccino will set visitors back £2.65, but MPs can get the same coffee for £1.55. The House of Commons provide sample menus for 12 different eateries on their website. They are frequented by MPs, their staff, and other people working within the Houses of Parliament.
A spokesperson for the House of Commons said: “Our catering venues serve thousands of customers every week including visitors, MPs and journalists – as well as the staff who keep Parliament running through irregular hours. We continuously seek to reduce costs, and the net cost of providing catering services in 2022-23 has fallen by £1.1 million, compared to the year before. The pricing in the Jubilee Café is benchmarked against other visitor attraction cafes.”
Source: Read Full Article