Politics

Boris gets caffeine swiped on International Coffee Day

Boris Johnson was left red faced after he had his coffee swiped in front of cameras at the Conservative Party Conference today.

The Prime Minister was filmed being handed a brew by an aide as he passed through the conference, only to have it confiscated a moment later.

His colleague can be heard saying “no disposable cups” as she whips it from his hands, leaving the PM caffeine-less on International Coffee Day.

The Government found itself in hot water last month after an Independent investigation found Costa Coffee could have been responsible for a proposed “latte levy” being binned.

The high street chain – which sells nearly half a billion drinks in takeaway cups every year – argued against the proposals to make customers pay more for them just before the chancellor Philip Hammond dropped plans for the levy in last year’s autumn budget.

MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) had recommended the levy should be brought in, and trials – including one in Westminster itself – have shown they drastically cut the number of cups thrown away.

A 25p surcharge on takeaway cups in the Houses of Parliament introduced in October 2018 led to the number of cups plummeting from 58,000 a month to 15,000 per month.

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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