Taxpayers to foot luxury hotel bill for Pope's entourage

[TriWooOx]

Quote:Senior Vatican officials who will accompany the Pope on his historic visit to Britain will stay in a luxury hotel where rooms cost up to £900 a night – courtesy of UK taxpayers.

The Government has confirmed it will meet the accommodation bill for 11 members of Pope Benedict XVI’s entourage during the visit from September 16-19.

The Government has also decided to give all 11 a daily spending allowance of £150 for the trip.

The money has been set aside for expenses such as food, dry cleaning, UK telephone calls and drinks – as long as they are not from the hotel mini-bar.

The disclosure will exacerbate concerns about the rising cost of the four-day visit, which is already costing UK taxpayers £12million – 50 per cent more than originally intended.

Some critics have questioned why the Government has to pay so much when the Roman Catholic Church has a reported fortune of around £30billion.

The hotel is close to Westminster and boasts a swimming pool and 24-hour room service.

It will cater for the spiritual needs of the party by allowing a chapel to be set up in its private dining room.

The Pope himself will stay in the Papal Nuncio’s residence at Wimbledon,
South-West London.

The event will be the first visit to Britain by a Pope since 1982.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said it was not identifying the hotel for security reasons.

He also said that there were very strict conditions attached to the spending allowance.

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