Lammy’s Soft Power Council Spends £7,200 on Tea and Biscuits for One Meeting – Guido Fawkes

Lammy’s Soft Power Council Spends £7,200 on Tea and Biscuits for One Meeting

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David Lammy launched his much-vaunted “UK Soft Power Council” in January – soon after that the UK dropped down below China for the first time in much-watched soft power rankings. Good start…

A parliamentary question has revealed that £20,000 has been so far allocated to the council in the current financial year, which has done nothing apart from launch. Amazingly £7,258 in taxpayer cash was spent for its first meeting on “AV, pull-up banners, tea, coffee, water and biscuits as well as Government Hospitality staffing costs.” Below is a photo of the “pull-up banner” used. So it’s £7,000 on tea and biscuits…

Naturally the FCDO also had to host a “one-off reception for 175 people to mark the launch of the Council and the Government’s new approach to soft power.” Is the ‘council’ just an excuse for a party…

Labour says it’s “establishing a Secretariat to support the Council and its Working Groups as part of broader soft power structures.” More civil servants on the way then – don’t tell Starmer…