Lords have complained to parliament’s catering service about a bar closing late at night and having to walk between tills to buy jam.
The gripes include the second chamber’s Bishops’ Bar shutting at 10pm due to being ‘sparse and understaffed’, according to one frustrated peer.
An ‘annoyed’ group of around 20 members had wanted to chat and drink after the Lords’ business on May 15 ended with a session on EU law.
The partially redacted complaint is among several by Lords to the catering service between June 2022 and October this year which have been released after a Freedom of Information Act request by Metro.co.uk.
The member, whose name has been withheld, wrote in an email: ‘I’m emailing you because I think it’s important that you know about the dissatisfaction over the Bishops’ Bar and its poor planning and management.
‘Last night, about 10pm, around 20 peers wanted to sit and chat, have a drink, snack etc, after a long day in the House.
‘Amongst them were the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Whip, Opposition Chief Whip, several Labour front benchers and others, obv including me.
‘We would have gone elsewhere, but everywhere was shut.
‘[Redacted] was still at [redacted] post, but had been told to close.’
The group managed to have a drink in the Long Room, another venue at the upper house, but found it ‘deserted except for two staff’.
The complaint continues: ‘As well as everywhere closing, we were annoyed that [redacted] had been left to cope alone on a voting day.
‘That’s not fair on [redacted], nor on the peers who like that Bar.
‘It seems that whoever is in charge of the Bishops’ Bar management is trying to make it so sparse and understaffed that no one will use it.
‘But there is clearly a need for that space, both for food and drink.
‘Who should I speak to on this matter?’
Another complaint, sent shortly before midnight on July 12, 2023, also bemoans the lack of late night service at the popular bar.
The email reads: ‘It’s 23.26, there are about 350 peers still here and voting, and the Long Room is packed with not enough chairs for us all.
‘It seems a pity that the Bishops’ Bar is closed – some of us have always preferred it.’
In another gripe, a Lord bemoaned a lack of jam pots for croissants.
The peer complained that ‘for some ridiculous reason’ there were no preserves available at the Despatch Box cafe to go with the pastry.
The diner fumed that it meant having to ‘walk across to where they serve food and buy a jam there and walk back’ to the outlet, located in the atrium of Portcullis House.
‘It means that I have to queue at the till at that place to pay the 30p,’ the email reads.
The member continues: ‘This delays other customers and actually takes some time and it will be extremely easy for you to hold 10 pots of jam at the dispatch box and stop this nonsense.
‘Why would you not have jam there?’
The Strangers’ Bar is among the catering facilities at parliament that offer a break from the business of the day (Picture: File image)
The email sent from a parliament.uk address in July 2023 seems trivial at a time when the cost of living crisis and a range of other pressing national concerns were on the parliamentary agenda.
Catering at parliament has been a controversial subject given that, while it is not directly subsidised, it runs at a loss, meaning taxpayers’ money effectively supports the overall operation.
The partially redacted email thread released to Metro.co.uk shows that the complaint was taken seriously at the time.
The response from parliament’s customer service team reads: ‘the Catering Services [redacted] has responded to thank you for your feedback and to say that pots of raspberry/strawberry jam will be available for you to buy from Monday.’
The Lord replied: ‘Wow excellent well done and thank you.’
In the past, the Commons has pointed out that its catering venues are ‘accessible to all passholders, including staff, contractors, visitors and members of the press gallery’.
Prices were said by a spokesperson to be ‘regularly benchmarked’ against similar venues outside parliament, while the lower chamber ‘continuously seeks to reduce costs’.
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