Alcoholic drinks are effectively subsidised in Parliament bars by UK taxpayers and generally cost less than at other pubs in the London borough of Westminster
Many of us enjoy a cheeky pint, but an MP has left many of her fellow politicians infuriated after she shared her shock over Westminster’s drinking culture.
Green Party MP for Gorton and Denton, Hannah, Spencer sparked outrage after she claimed to feel “really uneasy” about Parliament’s drinking culture. She argued some MPs had been “unprofessional” and said there had been cases of “questionable and dangerous behaviour.”
But shortly after her interview with website Joe was published, Hannah was slammed as a puritan online. Alcohol enjoyer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was keen to jump on the discourse, adding: “The Greens are happy to legalise heroin and crack, but now we learn they think an afternoon pint is a step too far.”
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Spencer did not argue a pint in the afternoon was too far, but was instead commenting on the sobriety of MPs while they were casting votes.
She later responded to criticism against her in a post shared to Instagram. She said: “I love a blue WKD as much as the next hun. Try and prize one of them out of my hands on a hot day or a night out, forget it. No chance.
“But there are seriously MPs who are trying to tell us they have a right to get pissed at work, and that is why they are so out of touch, because the vast majority of us could not get away with that.”
Drinking culture in Westminster has come under swift criticism and its Stranger’s bar was briefly closed last year following an alleged spiking incident. In 2023, Labour MP Neil Coyle apologised following two drunken incidents in a Commons bar.
He faced a five-day ban from Parliament and was suspended by Labour. He later detailed how he sought help for alcohol issues.
Alcohol is subsidised in Parliament with several bars receiving taxpayer funding. Glasses of white wine can go for as little as £6.55 with pints being sold from as low as £5.45.
In comparison, pints on average in the borough of Westminster come in at £6.63.