Questions being asked why Foreign Office spent £1,841 at Norwich City's online shop

Liz Truss is facing questions after the Foreign Office spent £1,841 at Norwich City FC's online shop, during her time as foreign secretary.

The payments, which were made using government expense cards, were queried by Labour's shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry in a letter to the department.

She asked how and why officials had incurred a number of costs, including two transactions with the Canaries, of which Ms Truss is a fan.

They were made on two dates: £1,318 on October 21 last year and £523.50 on March 21 this year.

It is not clear who requested that those payments be made, or what was purchased.At the time, South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss was leading the department as foreign secretary.

At around the time of the October payment, she was meeting with leaders in the Gulf, while on March 21, she was in Ukraine meeting with the country's defence minister.

At one of the Conservative leadership debates in July, Ms Truss admitted to a crowd of party members at Leeds United's Elland Road ground that she was a Norwich fan.

"They're a fine family club, what can I say?" she told them.

"Delia [Smith, the joint majority share holder]'s a great woman, great cookbooks, I think you can all agree."

In her letter, addressed to Foreign Office junior minister Gillian Keegan MP, Ms Thornberry wrote that it was difficult to understand why the department had spent money on items such as "high-end private catering; wellness and beauty treatments; extensive supplies from UK wineries; large amounts of home furnishing; and even £1,841 at the Norwich City club shop".

There has been some speculation online that the smaller of the two payments, made to the Canaries in March, could have been to buy or renew a season ticket.

The first deadline to renew season tickets was March 20, the day before the payment was made.

The Foreign Office has been approached for comment. It was asked who requested the Norwich City payments to be made and what was bought from the online store. The department has not yet responded.

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