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Leaders to leave No10 party with goodie bags
Jack Lefley31 Mar 2009
WORLD leaders will be given a G20 goodie bag as they leave a dinner in Downing Street tomorrow evening.
The goodie bag is being put together to showcase British creativity and is reported to contain a designer tie, chocolates, a tea towel and a candle.
The tie will be a creation by one of three British designers, Ozwald Boateng, Timothy Everest and Richard James.
The chocolates will come from King's Road-based Rococo Chocolates, the candle will be by interior designer Kelly Hoppen and the tea towel will come from Ulster-based Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen.
No10 refused to reveal how many of the packs were being given out, who they were going to, what the total cost was and who was footing the bill.
Reader views (18)
What a charade ! I am so incensed I am tempted to leave my City bank desk and join the great unwashed at the Bank of England for some shenanigans. Gordon Brown is so low he could walk under a snake wearing stilts and a top hat.
- Squiz, Islington, 01/04/2009 10:19
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Will any of the recipients be worth their metal and say a polite 'no thank you' or are they all from the take, take, take, brigade.
- Anon, uk, 01/04/2009 08:50
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Oh Lord, it just gets worse by the minute. What a waste of money.The whole thing will achieve nothing.
- Michael Riley, London, 31/03/2009 18:21
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Maybe Gordon would be better off handing around a hat at the end of the G20 and asking the other 19 to make a contribution for their board and lodgings?
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 31/03/2009 17:36
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Yes - some of the items in the G20 Goody Bag will be Pa Broone's Notes on how to 'Run a Bank', and a boxed set of Tony Blair's Speeches from the past 10 years of Labour Party conferences.
- Uncle Vanya, East Angular Area UK, 31/03/2009 17:31
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makes a complete mockery of what they are here for in the first place
- Wallytrader, London, 31/03/2009 15:51
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I do hope they think twice about putting a tie in Chancellor Merkel's bag. As bribes go, it seems a bit ill-considered...
- Dollimore, London, UK, 31/03/2009 15:12
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Did they not learn anything from Brown's visit to the US a couple of months ago? Brown gave Obama some seriously expensive trinkets while Obama gave Brown some cheapy box sets of DVDs. The point is that is not the right time to be trying to impress by giving useless expensive gifts, aren't they supposed to be trying to talk about how to fix the economy ??
- Louise, Essex, 31/03/2009 14:03
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This "circus" is causing tax payers millions of pounds when all 20 leaders could have communicated by video link. Gordon Brown in his latest attempt at "showcasing" himself is a laughing stock around the world but sadly the British tax payer is not laughing as he is inviting protests and riots in the streets of London, placing our police officers in the front line, and risking potential harm to shops, shop keepers and commuters.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 31/03/2009 13:59
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If I were Mr Boateng I'd be designing a good old fashioned London tie for certain of the G20 leaders, it would be in the Tyburn style.
- Bob, Cheam, 31/03/2009 13:47
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I have an Idea why not pop a Porno DVD into the goodie bag to show the G20 leaders what our hard up tax payers money is spent on.I agree we need this meeting but why oh why are we wasting money like this? What is the TOTAL cost just for these bags?
- Selwyn Channon, epsom, 31/03/2009 13:16
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A tea towel? How very strange. Is the candle in case we have a power cut whilst they're visiting?
- Isabel, Woking, 31/03/2009 13:05
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Its disgraceful the taxpayer has to pay for this to world leaders who can easily afford such luxuries. Have the generous Gordon Brown and his lackeys received different quotations and lowest prices for the gifted goodies or do they just accept the highest price quoted as it is not their cash they are spending anyway!!
- Peter Noterfed, Paris, France, 31/03/2009 12:34
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Wow! I thought the government were stupid, but this really takes the biscuit. How out of touch are they? Have any of them spoken to a non-politician in the last 12yrs?
- Mark, London, 31/03/2009 12:00
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GOODIE !
Guess who is paying ?
- Bernard Parke, GUILDFORD, 31/03/2009 10:51
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A tea towel? How many world leaders does Gordon think do their own dishes?
- Maire, London, 31/03/2009 10:46
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Can't these World Leaders buy their own goodies?
Not only have the tax payers got to prop up the government,banks and financial services; we have to prop up the worlds most powerful people as well with goodie bags.
Yet we let our old people live on the poorest pensions in the developed world, and deny them medical equality over the age of 65 years etc.
I hope President Obama knows how the British Government treat its own deprived people; and I hope he gives his goodie bag back to Brown.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 31/03/2009 10:08
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Who is footing the bill is bloody obvious. If they are taking hundreds of thousands in expenses from the public, then I hardly think they will be putting their hands in their pockets for designer gear.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 31/03/2009 09:59
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