The Environment Secretary travelled to China to promote British food and spared no expense as she racked up hotel bills of £3,200 for just four nights
Tory Minister Elizabeth Truss splashed more than £34,000 of taxpayers’ cash on a luxury junket to China, flying first-class and staying in five-star hotels.
The Environment Secretary and four officials blew £25,000 on flights to Beijing and Shanghai on a six-day trip promoting British food.
Hotel bills topped £3,200 for four nights – though her department has had cuts of £500million since 2010 and must save another £300million by 2016.
The party travelled in three business class seats to the Chinese capital costing £5,369 each and another two in premium economy at £3,905 each. They also spent £1,000 on three first-class internal flights to Shanghai and £272 on two economy seats.
The group stayed at the £148-a-night, 610-room Portman Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai which calls itself “a cornerstone of luxury and comfort” with “timeless luxury”.
The group also spent two nights at the Rosewood Beijing, which claims to take “contemporary sophistication to new heights” and “features one-of-a-kind luxury”. It boasts 283 rooms that “evoke sensations of lavish apartment living”.
Ms Truss’s department splashed another £3,000 on receptions, dinners and breakfast meetings on the jaunt last month.
One dinner with “Chinese investors into the UK” cost £960 while interpreters cost another £2,500.
Defra released the figures after a freedom of information request and said the trip was intended to develop relations over food and drink, agriculture, agri-tech and animal health.
A Defra spokesman said: “This high-profile trade trip represented good value for the taxpayer, with the Secretary of State negotiating to unlock up to £800million of new business for the UK.
“We expect to see new deals agreed over the coming months.”
Days after returning from China Ms Truss said on her website: “We are increasingly seeing British firms taking advantage of the growing demand in China for our produce, from whisky and pork to Yorkshire tea.”