House of Lords refuses to save money by drinking cheaper champagne

Why don't they buy their own champagne?

As much as I despise the house of lords and in fact anything which even gives off a whiff of the childish traditions of this country, £65,000 is so insignificant to this country it's a total non-story.

As a few others have said, it's the principle more than anything else. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things £65,000 isn't much, but it sets a bad precedent that those in power are able to use the taxpayer's money in such an unnecessary and self-indulgent way. It's, to a lesser extent, the expenses row all over again.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/if-you-want-to-see-the-gap-between-the-house-of-lords-and-reality-for-yourself-then-just-look-at-their-champagne-budget-9910611.html

Is this a tad excessive or would it be inappropriate to expect Lords to drink swill? I would love to see them try Lambrini

As much as I despise the house of lords and in fact anything which even gives off a whiff of the childish traditions of this country, £65,000 is so insignificant to this country it's a total non-story.

Damn silly article - the House of Lords is part of the legislature of this country. As such I imagine they hold numerous social/diplomatic/business/networking/state occasions when the choice of food or drink is actually important if only for the sake of providing hospitality to the guests.

Of course it does represent a marvellous narrative to juxtapose with the food bank story - prime click bait for the Independent. Cue everyone mindlessly moaning about stereotypical drunken Lords and rich ex-public schoolboys despite the fact that, were such generalisations made about any other part of society, there would an outcry about racism/sexism/etc...

Now I'm not saying there isn't some valid criticism to be made. In a time of austerity it does indeed make sense for the burden to be shared. I'm just sick and tired of the simplistic and contradictory narrative being peddled here.

For example: we're constantly told the elected politicians are not to be trusted and are hated by all. Then we're criticising the lords and people (this journalist included) generally finish such comments by saying "Oh and to top it all, they're not even elected!"

Right, so you hate the elected politicians, but you hate the lords because they're not elected...? What do you want then - because I can tell you if we make the Lords an elected house it'll be filled with people of the same stamp as those sitting across the lobby in the Commons.

The same applies to a fat Romanian mother with a litter of sprogs sponging off the state.

Doesn't stop everyone from foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog over it.

I never complain about such people, like Jesus

Just checking.

Good

Toffs or Romanian sponges?

Funny how that thinking didn't apply when it came to chipping away at the welfare system or legal aid.

Anyway, this wasn't just about champagne. This was about reorganising the whole £1.3m catering contract for both the Commons and the Lords.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Those were 2 budgets that required slashing and a major pruning and trimming.

As for the champagne bill, couldn't really give a toss, there are far more pressing matters that waste far more money than a bunch of old geezers guzzling champagne.

The same applies to a fat Romanian mother with a litter of sprogs sponging off the state.

Doesn't stop everyone from foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog over it.