British politicians really don't want you to know how much they drink

British politicians drink. A lot. There are around a dozen separate bars in the Houses of Parliament, and they’re subsidized by the British taxpayer. Apparently, though, some of those politicians would rather not show the public just how much boozing is going on.

John Bercow—the Speaker of the House who presides over parliamentary debates and acts as the chief officer of the House of Commons—used a loophole in the Freedom of Information Act to prevent details of the scale of the drinking that happens in Parliament from becoming public, the Press Association reported Friday:

“The Speaker of the House of Commons has formed the reasonable opinion, under the above sections of the Act, that disclosure of this information would inhibit the free and frank provision of advice and the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation,” the response said.

Translation: if you knew how much people drink around here, it would be a problem. Considering that the House of Commons spent over $2 million on alcohol over a two-year period—oh, and that whole “suppressing the details of drinking” thing you just read about in the above paragraphs—one can only imagine.