Taxpayers funding MPs' Margaux and Latour habits
The government has spent more than £17,500 topping up its wine cellar since the election, it has been revealed.
Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham has divulged that the total value of the government wine cellar now stands at £864,000 and includes wines from the likes of chateaux Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Mouton-Rothschild.
The Tories and Lib Dems can't shoulder all of the blame - in 2008, it was reported that £500,000 had been spent on the cellar by the Labour government in the previous five years.
Government Hospitality, which manages the cellar, claims that the majority of the stock has been sourced at below the market rate.
However, this is unlikely to allay the concerns of taxpayers, who may be wondering why they fund cabinet members' expensive wine habits.
"The coalition government says we are all in this together," commented West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson.
"A one-litre Merlot wine box at Asda costs £10. They know what they have to do."