Former PM accepted £20K trip from US lobby group

Former prime minister Liz Truss accepted a £20,000 trip from a little-known US lobby group, government papers have shown.

The South West Norfolk MP attended a meeting on a private American island in February, organised by the so-called Green Dragon Coalition.

Details were recorded in the register of MP's interests.

Labour's candidate for the Norfolk seat said Ms Truss was "distracted by the bright lights of the world stage".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the register of interests recorded that the coalition donated £19,541 to pay for flights and accommodation for Ms Truss and one staff member to attend the conference on Sea Island, off the coast of the US state of Georgia.

The three-day event was held at a five-star hotel between 2 and 4 February, and was described on its website as "a small gathering of the great minds of today - the creative visionaries, influential authors, educators, entrepreneurs, and political luminaries".

There is little public information available about who is involved in the Green Dragon Coalition, although a page on the group's website features a photograph of Mike Lee, Republican senator for Utah - and a loyal backer of Donald Trump.

The group takes its name from the Green Dragon Tavern, a Boston pub where organisers planned the so-called Boston Tea Party in 1773.

A statement on the group's website said: "It is time to take a stand and fight for the foundational values that made America great."

The event came weeks before Ms Truss attended another US event, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where she claimed her short stint in Downing Street was "sabotaged" by the "administrative state and the deep state".

Labour's prospective candidate for South West Norfolk, Terry Jermy, said: "Time and time again Liz Truss demonstrates that her priority is not South West Norfolk.

"Whether it be this latest trip to the USA where she was spreading conspiracy theories or making previous lucrative paid speeches around the world.

"Residents are telling me time and again they want an MP focused on their concerns and challenges, not someone distracted by the bright lights of the world stage."

Liz Truss declined to comment on the visit.