I was interested to see the prices paid by Liz Truss at a luncheon “event” at 5 Hertford Street (Liz Truss asked for public money to cover £3,000 lunch, 2 January). As of 4 January, independent wine merchants were offering Coudoulet de Beaucastel rouge at £19.99 to £22.23 per 75cl bottle, and Pazo Barrantes Albariño at £17.50 to £18.33, compared with Ms Truss’s expenditure of £130 for two bottles of the former and £153 for three of the latter – out of the public purse.
The proprietor of the establishment concerned was a donor to Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign and is related to a Conservative life peer and current minister. What faith can we have in Ms Truss’s judgment in her role as foreign secretary when it comes to striking international trade deals? Should she become prime minister, will public money continue to flow at exorbitant rates to cronies? Would Ms Truss benefit from a crash course in restaurant wine price inflation?
Dr Jonathan Punt
London
• You report that, in the pursuit of a chimerical trade deal, Liz Truss “paid” £153 for three bottles of Albariño. Albariño can be extremely pleasant when paired with the right food, but grand cru it is not. Aldi does a very nice version at £6.99 and I will happily bet Ms Truss a case of the latter that, in a blind tasting, she would not be able to pick out the ridiculously overpriced stuff that she served up at our expense.
Michael Pyke
Lichfield, Staffordshire
• You report (‘I’m always tired, Miss’: the sleepless children of Leeds’ bed poverty crisis, 2 January) how a family had only one chair and one lightbulb, and no beds. Meanwhile, Liz Truss “hosted a £3,000 lunch”. Levelling up? No chance with this government.
Alan Lane
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.
