COMMONS Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said today that he was “unimpressed” by a Tory minister’s response to calls for a probe into allegations that Liz Truss overruled civil servants’ advice against hosting a £3,000 lunch.

Paymaster General Michael Ellis dismissed MPs’ concerns over allegations that the Foreign Secretary had insisted on hosting an expensive lunch at a Tory-owned private members’ club to meet with a US politician last year. 

The revelations emerged last week in leaked correspondence, which showed that the then trade secretary had “refused to consider anywhere else,” despite her staff suggesting a cheaper venue. 

Addressing the Paymaster General today, Labour MP Catherine West asked: “Will he immediately include this in the investigation which is being undertaken into the other boozy parties in No 10?”

Mr Ellis dismissed Ms West’s comments as “ridiculous” and insisted that there was “no conflict of interest in the matter she describes.”

Attempting to change the subject, he added: “The reality of the matter is the Labour Party engages in trade union entertainment on every possible occasion.”

But Sir Lindsay commented that the jibe was “not a very good answer” and that he was “not impressed with that.”