No vegetable crisis here! Rishi Sunak hosts Tory fundraiser at Savoy where guests are served Mediterranean tomatoes, potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli – hours after minister told the rest of the UK to ‘just eat turnips’ as supermarkets ration veg
- Showpiece of auction at the Conservative Winter Ball at London’s opulent Savoy
- Sunak and Akshata Murthy attended before leaving together through a side door
Tory bigwigs tucked into a feast of mouthwatering delicacies at a lavish fundraiser last night, hours after a senior minister had urged struggling families to eat more turnips.
Wealthy donors and senior party figures including Rishi Sunak gathered at the five-star Savoy Hotel in London for the Conservative Winter Party.
The gathering came amid rationing of vegetables at supermarket chains in Britain, and after a senior minister was criticised for her advice to people affected by the cost-of-living crisis.
Environment Secretary Therese Coffey – who attended the ball – suggested people struggling to feed themselves to ‘work harder’. She also suggested people could replace tomatoes with turnips amid a shortage of the juicy salad fruit in supermarkets.
According to the Savoy website, guests at catered events it hosts are able to eat dishes including several legumes hard to find on the shelves of supermarkets.
Main courses include an Angus beef fillet with roasted purple sprouting broccoli and vine roasted tomatoes chimichurri, alongside poached Dover sole with grilled prawns, shrimp butter and French beans.
One of the vegetarian options is an aubergine sufflé with endive, baby leeks and pine nuts, while pescatarians can enjoy pan-seared Scottish halibut with wild garlic, spinach pureé, Morrel mushrooms, asparagus and buttered Jersey Royal potatoes.
It was literally a glittering affair – a portrait of the Prime Minister made from Swarovski crystals made £25,000 in an auction for party funds.
Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy were both at the event, before they later left together through a side door.
According to the Savoy website, guests at catered events it hosts are able to eat dishes including several legumes hard to find on the shelves of supermarkets.
The event may raise eye brows at it came hours after one of his senior ministers was embroiled in a cost-of-living row. Environment Secretary Therese Coffey – who also attended the ball – was criticised for telling people struggling to feed themselves to ‘work harder’.
The shimmering portrait of the Prime Minister was the showpiece of the auction at the Conservative Winter Ball at London’s opulent Savoy hotel.
Supermarkets are already limiting the sale of tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables because of a lack of imports.
High temperatures and a lack of rain, followed by a period of cold weather, are being blamed for creating the “most difficult season ever”.
Tesco and Aldi are limiting customers to three items per customer for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers as a precautionary measure, while Asda is also limiting customers on lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries, and Morrisons has set a limit of two items per customer across tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers.
Today growers warned of a leek shortage that will see British-grown supplies exhausted by April.
Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy were both at the event, before they later left together through a side door.
The event may raise eye brows at it came hours after one of his senior ministers was embroiled in a cost-of-living row.
Other Tory heavyweights who attended the event included Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
The artwork of the PM was created by London-based artist San B, who has previously designed works for Bruno Mars, hip-hop legends the Wu Tang Clan and boxing champion Floyd Mayweather.
The bumper sale raised a comfortable sum for the depleted party coffers. Other lots included a shooting party at Warter Priory in Yorkshire which went for £40,000, and a trip to watch the F! Abu Dhabi grand prix, which went for £50,000, according to the Guido Fawkes website.
Earlier this month reports suggest the Conservative Party is facing a £25 million shortfall ahead of the General Election.
Bloomberg reported that the party’s operating budget was around £5 million in the red. At one point, the party’s bank account went into its overdraft to pay its staff wage bill, it added. But sources at Conservative Campaign Headquarters said they had received some big donations in recent weeks that had not yet shown up in the accounts.
Donations dropped by 45 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, according to the latest data from the Electoral Commission.
Other Tory heavyweights who attended the event included Home Secretary Suella Braverman (top), Health Secretary Steve Barclay (centre) and Transport Secretary Mark Harper (above)
Gaffe-prone Cabinet minister Ms Coffey was branded ‘appalling’ for her ‘shocking’ comments by a Labour MP as they clashed in the House of Commons.
The spat came as she admitted the cost of living crisis was ‘really tough’ for UK families.
She added that ‘one of the best ways’ for people to boost their incomes was ‘potentially to work some more hours, to get upskilled, to get a higher income’.
The row is the latest in a series of controversies to hit Ms Coffey, who has been dubbed ‘Calamity Coffey’ by critics.
On Wednesday she was booed at the National Farmers’ Union conference after she insisted UK egg shortages had not been caused by ‘market failure’.
She has also previously clashed with England footballer Marcus Rashford over his free school meals campaign and came under fire for singing ‘Time of My Life’ as the Universal Credit uplift ended when she was work and pensions secretary.
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