House of Lords sold £90,000 worth of Champagne in 2023
Almost £90,000 worth of champagne was bought for events and at the gift shop in the House of Lords last year.
A total of 1,589 bottles were bought over the course of 2023, at a cost of £88,987.90, according to new data from a Scottish National Party (SNP) Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
It’s a slight rise from 2022, when 1,580 bottles were sold at a cost of £85,462.51.
Tommy Sheppard, the SNP MP for Edinburgh East, was scathing about the figures released by the party on Tuesday, saying “a parliament where unelected Lords glug fizz and collect £342 a day” is “not fit to properly represent the people”.
“The past year has been defined by Westminster’s cost of living crisis that has seen living standards plummet and countless more households pushed into poverty and deprivation – a reality alien to the Lords and their lavish lifestyles” he said.
It shows, Mr Sheppard added, that the house is “archaic and out of touch” and “should be abolished” and Scots be allowed “to pursue an alternative from Westminster”.
The SNP has no representatives in the House of Lords due to its opposition to the unelected second chamber.
In 2020, the year COVID-19 hit the UK, sales of champagne in the House of Lords amounted to just £8,982, with only 180 bottles sold over the course of the year – part of which was spent in lockdown.
The 2019 figure was 1,441 bottles purchased, at a cost of £69,988.80.
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But a House of Lords spokesperson said the majority of the champagne was sold in the gift shop or at events hosted by external organisations.
The spokesperson said: “All alcohol, including champagne, sold in the House of Lords is sold at a profit.
“Most of the champagne sold by the House of Lords is bought by visitors in the gift shop and consumed away from Parliament by members of the public, or sold at banqueting events to organisations or individuals hosting the event in the House of Lords.
“It is not paid for by the taxpayer.”
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Sir Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure over the small boats crisis after protests outside asylum hotels continued over the bank holiday weekend.
A poll suggested that voters believe the prime minister is failing to grip the problem, despite his government setting out measures to speed up removals.
It comes as Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer warned that “the far right feels emboldened and validated” by other political parties.
So far this year a record 28,076 people have made the perilous journey across the English Channel in small boats, 46% more than in the same period in 2024.
Like many other European countries, immigration has increasingly become a flashpoint in recent years as the UK deals with an influx of people fleeing war-torn and poorer countries seeking a better life.
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Asylum hotel protests swell in Norwich
Official figures released earlier this month showed a total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
There were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of the same month.
Protests and counterprotests at sites housing asylum seekers continued over the weekend and the government is braced for further legal fights over the use of hotels.
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A YouGov poll for The Times found that 71% per cent of voters believe Sir Keir is handling the asylum hotel issue badly, including 56% of Labour supporters.
The survey of 2,153 people carried out on August 20-21 found 37% of voters viewed immigration and asylum as the most important issue facing the country, ahead of 25% who said the economy and 7% who said the health service.
Ms Denyer, who is MP for Bristol Central, condemned threats of violence in the charged atmosphere around immigration.
“The far right feels emboldened and validated by other political parties dancing to their tune.
“The abuse I’ve been sent has got noticeably worse in the last few months, escalating in some cases to violent threats, which are reported to the police.
“It doesn’t matter how much you disagree with someone, threats of violence are never, ever OK. And they won’t silence me.”
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Curbing the power of judges in asylum cases to tackle the migrant hotel crisis is a typical Keir Starmer response to a problem.
The former director of public prosecutions would appear to see overhauling court procedures and the legal process as the answer to any tricky situation.
Yes, the proposed fast-track asylum appeals process is fine as far as it goes. But for a government confronted with a massive migrant crisis, opponents claim it’s mere tinkering.
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