The price MPs pay for food and drink in the Commons has gone up for the first time in three years. But a coffee is still only 69p and a bacon sandwich is £1.70.
Parliament's bars and restaurants put up their prices by 3.4% last month, a Freedom of Information request by the Mirror confirms. It is the first such rise since 2019.
But even with the rise, prices are still subsidised by taxpayers, meaning a coffee is just 69p, a pint of lager is £3.56 and a bacon butty comes in at a mere £1.70.
MPs - who are now paid £84,144 per years after a recent increase - can also enjoy smoked salmon at £2.96. Members of Parliament enjoyed a 2.7% increase earlier this year.
The 2020/21 records show catering services made a £9.1m loss, to be met by the taxpayer. If MPs had to pay the going rate around Parliament, a Greggs bacon roll is £2.35, and a flat white coffee is £2.15.
And at the nearby Red Lion pub, fish and chips is £18, a hot smoked salmon salad is £17 and a pint of Peroni costs £5.55. A House of Commons spokesman blamed the pandemic for 2020/21 losses in Parliament’s catering services.
He said: “Some catering outlets were closed and fewer staff and visitors were on the estate, resulting in lower sales.”
The MPs’ 2.7% pay rise came in the same week that workers were hit by a 1.25% National Insurance rise. PM Boris Johnson and Labour leader Keir Starmer said MPs should not get the pay rise.
But their remuneration is set by an independent body, which says it should be in line with other public sector pay. Richard Lloyd, chairman of Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, said: “It is right that MPs are paid fairly.”
Conservative MP Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, in Nottinghamshire, last week claimed people should be learning to budget and cook. But one constituent, Ian Lane, 78, said: “It’s alright for him getting subsidised food and drink. In the real world, people are struggling.”
