Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney-general, has written to the Foreign Office questioning why spending rose by 45% on its government procurement cards between September 2021 and July 2022. He asked Gillian Keegan, a senior minister, to give more details on spending on a range of items, including luxury restaurants and high-end home decor brands such as the White Company, Ercol furniture and Osborne and Little, a fabric and upholstery supplier. The Foreign Office refused to give an explanation to Thornberry saying it would cost too much money, so the shadow attorney general released a letter to Keegan. FCDO spending figures show thousands spent on high-end restaurants including the Cinnamon Club, the Corinthia Hotel, Stanley’s in Chelsea and Kennington Tandoori, a famous politicians’ hangout. Thornberry also claimed more than £900 for Calm Over Chaos, which appears to provide coloring books for adults, and £1,850 for Soul Sanctuary, which may be a wellness app. Two payments totaling more than £4,000 were made to a hairdressing company called Finishing Touches, although it is understood this related to general maintenance rather than beauty. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thornberry told Keegan that it was hard to fathom the sums spent on “high-end private catering. wellness and beauty treatments; extensive supplies from UK wineries; large quantities of home furnishings; and even £1,841 to the Norwich City club.” Norwich City Football Club is a club supported by Truss. In 2018, as chief secretary to the Treasury, he gave a Norwich City football shirt to a US official in Cleveland, Ohio, in a bid to encourage an American football team to relocate to the UK. Thornberry said: “We’re waiting to see what response we get, but the overall picture is that the FCDO he headed was out of control and spending money like there’s no tomorrow and it’s public money with no accountability. It is completely shocking and ridiculous. There is a cost of living crisis – why pay for some of this high end catering, wine and home furnishings and decorations? “We are expecting local schools to fundraise for £40 for this and that and the money is not available. And yet they spend all this money?’ An FCDO spokesman would not comment on the details of the list, but said: “We are committed to using public money responsibly. Our staff follow set guidelines to ensure purchases are appropriate and achieve value for money for the taxpayer.”
