Thread by @allthecitizens

🚨NEW: Leaks cast doubt on Liz Truss’ explanation for using £1,400 of taxpayer money to fund a private lunch at the elite club of a multi-millionaire Tory donor. 🧵

The former secretary of state for international trade had “insisted” on booking the Mayfair-based 5 Hertford Street (5HS) members venue, owned by millionaire aristocrat Robin Birley, a major Brexit supporter and donor to the Conservatives and PM.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…

In leaked Emails, Truss reportedly “explicitly asked that we book 5 Hertford Street” and “refused to consider anywhere else”, despite, as one civil servant put it, the venue being “obviously incredibly expensive and more than I understand we’d usually pay”
theguardian.com/politics/2022/…

Whitehall mandarins tried to stop Truss hosting a US trade representative and 8 others at the club, and agreed with the venue to “reduce the bill to £1,400, but on condition of immediate payment” – meaning they had to use an emergency process to settle.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

Concerns were also raised over the Conservative party links of the venue and Birley.

Birley, an avid Brexiter and UKIP donor, has also gifted £87,850 to the Conservatives, including £20,000 to Boris Johnson in the months before his 2019 electoral victory.
thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-l…

The Farage supporting businessman is also the half-brother of Environment minister Zac Goldsmith.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…

Additionally, Labour recently highlighted a series of planning permissions granted to Birley by the government, during which “the ruling Conservative administration in Westminster went against the advice of its own planning and conservation experts in every instance"

Similarly in every instance the Committee behind the decision was chaired by Councillor Robert Davis, who was subsequently forced to resign over allegations he’d accepted “excessive hospitality” from property developers, including from Mr Birley.
westminster.gov.uk/sites/default/…

5 Hertford St, whose clientele pay £1,800 annually, is situated in Mayfair’s Shepherd Market behind an innocuous maroon door.

Members include prominent stars, politicians, celebrities, and royals, and it's been dubbed the “new smoking room of Downing St”
standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esma…

While Prince Charles, Cameron, Truss and Goldsmith are all known to frequent London’s “most influential and secretive members club”, 5HS is also a haunt of Nigel Farage, recently reported to have been being wooed there by disenfranchised former Tory donors
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

The site panders exclusively to the elite, and the venue and its owner have, while holding lavish events for its membership, also faced scrutiny in the past for not paying workers a living wage, and have been the subject of strike action because of this:
theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/n…

While the inequality on display within these organisations is often stark, the existence of secret members’ only clubs like 5 Hertford St, and their proximity to power, highlight a second serious issue of transparency in government and legislative oversight.

If influence in politics is allowed to coalesce around organisations like the Leaders Group or Advisory Board, to conduct business on WhatsApp and Signal, or to reach agreements over drinks in smoky dining clubs, how are the public to ensure their interests are being represented?