UK Foreign Minister under fire for $1m airfare to Australia
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has been accused of a “grotesque misuse of taxpayers’ money” following reports she chartered a private jet to Australia which would have cost 500,000 pounds ($A948,416).
The Independent newspaper reported Truss had opted for the private flight for her trip last week due to security concerns, although commercial flights were available.
The newspaper said she had travelled on the private government Airbus A321, which a senior source told them would have cost 500,000 pounds to operate.
The Foreign Office said the trip was within the rules set by the ministerial code, and using the private jet allowed the tripās delegation to travel together and have private discussions on sensitive security matters.
The department said commercial flights were fully booked, and that using a commercial flight would have separated Truss from her delegation and protection team.
They added using the private jet also gave Truss flexibility to return to the United Kingdom early if needed.
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But UK Labourās deputy leader Angela Rayner said the use of the private jet showed āthe public exactly quite how little respect this Conservative government has for taxpayersā moneyā.
āIt is obscene that government ministers are jet setting yet are hiking taxes and refusing to do anything to help working families when they are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis,ā Rayner said.
āTories waste disgusting amounts of public money on their own vanity and comfort, Labour wants to see families see a cut to energy bills, that is the difference.ā
Scottish National Party environment spokeswoman Deidre Brock added that it was a āgrotesque misuse of taxpayersā money to fund her jet-set lifestyleā.
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Brock added: āWith a record like this, Lavish Liz will make a fitting successor to Boris Johnson.ā
In a policy paper called Back to Black which Truss co-authored in 2009 she, along with others, outlined how āevery public sector worker should feel personal responsibility for the money they spend and the money they save.
āThey should spend taxpayersā money with at least the care they would give to their own.
āThis change of mindset would be reflected in everyday changes such as travelling by economy rather than business class, to larger scale changes around focusing on value for money.ā
The UK ministerial code says that ministers can authorise non-scheduled flights āwhen a scheduled service is not available, or when it is essential to travel by air, but the requirements of official or parliamentary business or security considerations preclude the journey being made by a scheduled serviceā.
Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted: āFor comparison, my first trip as a foreign office minister was on easyJet at 6am and we didnāt pay for speedy boarding.ā
āItās necessary for the Foreign Secretary to travel abroad to pursue UK interests around security, trade and technology, as she did during this visit to Australia,ā a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said.
āTravelling this way allows ministers to have private discussions on sensitive security matters and flexibility to respond to rapidly changing global events.
āThis trip used government transport and was fully within rules.ā
The Foreign Office said all information on the trip would be set out in regular transparency data.
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