THE extent of the UK Government’s spending on topping up its fine wine cellar during the pandemic has been revealed.
A delayed bi-annual report on the Government’s wine cellar for 2020-2022 was published by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on Thursday.
It showed that nearly £27,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on wine during the period despite the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the public purse.
Across 2020-2021, at the height of the Covid-19 crisis, £14,621 was splashed out on 516 bottles of red Bordeaux wines, costing around £28 each.
From 2021 to 2022, a thirst for English and Welsh sparkling wines saw the UK Government spend £12,356 on topping up its cellar with 636 bottles, including 180 magnums, at an average cost of £19.
It also bought 18 bottles of gin and four bottles each of whisky and liqueurs.
The stated purpose of the cellar is "to provide guests of the government, from home and overseas, with wines of appropriate quality at [a] reasonable cost".
As such, restrictions on indoor gatherings during the pandemic saw the UK Government’s consumption of wine drop by 96% from 2020 to 2021.
However, according to the Labour Party, given that sales from the wine cellar were cancelled in 2019-20, the net spend on additions to the cellar over the three years from April 2019 to March 2022 has been £100,068.
Indeed, figures show that the market value of the wine cellar’s stock hit a ten-year high of £3.66 million at the end of March 2022.
Earlier this month it was revealed that ministers had delayed the publication of the report no fewer than four times.
It was originally scheduled for publication in early 2023.
Labour's shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, said: "For months, we have asked why the government was suppressing the publication of this report, and now we know the answer.
“While the rest of the country was facing Covid restrictions and a cost of living crisis, the government was getting through 1433 bottles from its wine cellar, and replenishing the stocks with a net spend of more than £100,000 over the three years from 2019-22.
“They lived the high life at taxpayers' expense while the rest of the country struggled, and it will never be forgotten."
