Politics

Liz Truss loves a good party so it’s perhaps no surprise to read that she supports buying a swanky New York townhouse for British diplomats to entertain VIPs. But the nineteenth century mansion is expected to come at a price – £20 million – at a time when the Foreign Office is desperately looking for ways to cut costs, amid talk of a 20 per cent staff reduction. Luckily, Britain’s hard-pressed mandarins are never short of an idea or two to raise a few bob.  One such wheeze is hiring out some of the department’s buildings to TV crews to raise thousands in extra funds. In the past five years, the Foreign

It didn’t take long for the first egg to hit. Just a few hours after Margaret Thatcher’s statue was delicately placed on its ten-foot plinth in her hometown of Grantham, it was subject to the first of what is likely to be many attacks. This egging – carried out by a middle-aged protester – was hardly a surprise. The statue was once set to be placed outside Parliament, but this plan was kiboshed by Westminster Council amidst fears it could attract ‘civil disobedience and vandalism’. Presumably it was hoped that by being plonked in the unassuming, out-of the way Lincolnshire town the statue would avoid such lèse-majesté. The leader of the local Tory South Kesteven

It’s not been a great few months for standards in Westminster. In February, Neil Coyle MP lost the Labour whip after several drunken rants in the House of Commons Strangers’ bar. Then the following month, Mr S was the first to bring news that parliamentary staff were being told to stop sleeping overnight in the House of Commons, after getting too inebriated and missing the last train home.  Since then a lobby journalist had their security pass removed for ‘raucous behaviour’ while figures show that five ‘inebriated’ staff managed to cause nine security incidents in a single month.  Concerns have been raised about MPs’ staff and other passholders letting in guests onto the estate without