Tories enraged after Liz Truss gaffe lifts lid on £130,000 dinner between May, cabinet and former Russian politician’s wife
Liz Truss has accidentally revealed that the wife of a former Russian senior politician and ally of Vladimir Putin paid the Tories £135,000 to have dinner with Prime Minister Theresa May and several other cabinet ministers – via an Instagram post.
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The chief secretary to the Treasury’s gaffe, made on Instagram last night, showed the female cabinet ministers with Lubov Chernukhin, wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, in a five star Goring hotel in Belgravia.
She captioned the image: “And it's ladies night…#cabinetandfriends #girlpower”.
Lubov Chernukhin (right of PM Theresa May) poses with female cabinet members including Amber Rudd, Liz Truss and Andrea Leadsom (Source: Instagram / Liz Truss)
Chernukhin reportedly then sat down to dinner with the MPs, who included work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd, Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley, and leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom.
They were served a three-course meal of asparagus, beef Wellington and Eton mess, reported the Mail.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing, but the image of wining and dining former Russian politicians’ wives for party fundraising has been interpreted as being at odds with Theresa May’s pledge to toughen up on the issue of Russian money and influence in the UK, after last year’s nerve agent attack in Salisbury.
The PM said at the time the UK could no longer engage in “business as usual” with Russia and Putin.
Politico reported this morning senior government sources could not contain their rage at Truss after the incident.
One reportedly texted the news site, to say: “This just shows how desperately poor her judgement is. Already overheard b*tching about colleagues, she’s now dropped them in it for the sake of a few likes on Instagram. One female MP told me tonight that ‘This is why she’ll have three supporters come election time.’”
Chernukhin is a British citizen after she and her husband moved to London, but ITV said her donations to the Tories have now topped £1m in the last seven years.
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She was also entertained by former prime minister David Cameron and Boris Johnson five years ago, after paying £160,000, while defence secretary Gavin Williamson had dinner with her for £30,000 in the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall last year, the broadcaster said.