Liz Truss “explicitly asked” to use the Tory donor’s gentlemen’s club and rejected a cheaper and less party political optionLiz Truss overruled officials to demand they approve a £1,400 lunch with a foreign diplomat at a Tory donor’s struggling gentlemen’s club. The foreign secretary spent hundreds of pounds on wine and gin alone during the meal in Mayfair last summer. She “explicitly asked” to use the venue, “refused to consider anywhere else” and even rejected a cheaper and less party political option as “inappropriate”, according to official correspondence. SponsoredThe private members’ club, 5 Hertford Street, is owned by Robin Birley, a millionaire aristocrat and the half-brother of Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, the environment minister. Often considered to be London’s most exclusive club, it hosted Prince Harry’s first date with Meghan Markle and has been

Source: The Times January 02, 2022 22:26 UTC