Labour MP who criticised Londoners in 'coffee bars' claimed two coffee machines on expenses

In the aftermath of a crushing general election defeat, there’s always a lot of talk about what exactly went wrong.

Labour’s MP for Aberavon, Stephen Kinnock, has a lot of thoughts about this.

Appearing on LBC, he said:

Messages about fast-paced economic change/globalisation may go down well in coffee bars in London, but don’t speak to workers whose factories are closing down.

Just in case anyone missed it, he later tweeted his own quote (as you do), adding the hashtag #WakeUpAndSmellTheCoffee.

But it turns out that Kinnock might be more fond of coffee that he’s letting on.

He wrote in The Guardian’s “How I eat” column last June that the first thing he does in the morning is “grab a flat white from Costa in Westminster tube station. They know me now, so when I walk in I don’t even have to order.”

Yes, Costa, otherwise known as a “coffee bar”. In Westminster, in the centre of London.

But it doesn’t stop there.

In 2016 the Mirror reported that Kinnock charged taxpayers for a milk frother for his office. He was reimbursed £34.99 for the gadget in September, according to data from the expenses watchdog IPSA.

Kinnock, who is the son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, was also reportedly able to claim nearly £100 for two coffee machines.

Those pesky coffee-drinking Londoners!

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