Government spent £27,000 topping up wine cellar throughout pandemic, figures present
The Government spent nearly £27,000 topping up its huge assortment of fantastic wine within the two years masking the Covid pandemic, new figures present.
The determine is contained in a long-delayed stock-count printed by the Foreign Office of bottles saved within the wine cellar at Lancaster House. The report revealed that in 2020 to 2021, on the peak of the Covid disaster, £14,621 was splashed out on 516 bottles of pink Bordeaux wines, costing round £28 every.
In 2021 to 2022, a thirst for English and Welsh glowing wines noticed the Government spend £12,356 on topping up its cellar with 636 bottles, together with 180 magnums, at a median value of £19. It additionally purchased 18 bottles of gin, and 4 bottles every of whisky and liqueurs.
The report confirmed that the Government’s consumption of wine dropped by some 96% in 2020 to 2021, as anticipated, given the curbs on indoor gatherings and worldwide journey throughout the pandemic. Nevertheless, 130 bottles of wine have been drunk that yr.
It rose the next yr to 1,303 bottles of wines and spirits, however consumption nonetheless remained almost 61% decrease than pre-pandemic ranges. As a comparability, some 3,300 bottles have been polished off in 2019 to 2020. According to the report, as of March 2022, the Government’s wine cellar contained 32,301 bottles of wine and spirits with an estimated complete worth of £3.66million.
Before Covid, the cellar was “self-financed” via gross sales of inventory and funds from Government departments for occasions. But gross sales weren’t potential within the pandemic years coated within the newest report, solely resuming in 2022.
The assortment is supposed to “provide guests of the Government, from home and overseas, with wines of appropriate quality at reasonable cost”. It was established in 1908 and is situated within the basement of Lancaster House in Whitehall.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell stated in a written assertion: “All events organised by Government Hospitality during this period were done so in strict accordance with Covid-19 restrictions.” The publication of the inventory checklist was initially anticipated in early 2023, however was repeatedly postponed.
But Labour’s shadow lawyer normal Emily Thornberry stated: “For months we have asked why the Government was suppressing the publication of this report, and now we know the answer. While the rest of the country was facing Covid restrictions and a cost-of-living crisis, the Government was getting through 1,433 bottles from its wine cellar, and replenishing the stocks with a net spend of more than £100,000 over the three years from 2019-22. They lived the high life at taxpayers’ expense while the rest of the country struggled, and it will never be forgotten.”
