Boris Johnson used a government private jet to return home from a weekend with his family in Cornwall, sparking questions about his use of taxpayer-funded resources.
The Prime Minister was in Cornwall and Devon at the weekend ahead of the Tiverton and Honiton by-elections, which his party lost to the Liberal Democrats.
He made a surprise visit to the Royal Cornwall Show on Friday morning and was then photographed by holidaymakers with his family on the beach in St Ives this weekend, as well as on a party political visit to Tiverton at some point for by-election campaigning.
Johnson also made a trip to Hale, near St Ives, on Monday morning where he visited a factory and helped pack broccoli.
Records show a government plane left London to fly to Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, a helicopter base near the tip of Cornwall, not far from St Ives, early on Monday morning. The use of the government jet was first reported by the Sunday Mirror.
The Ministerial Code states: “Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel. Official transport should not normally be used to arrange travel arising from a party or private business, except where justified by security considerations.
Families are allowed to accompany ministers if it is “clearly in the public interest”, the code says.
A Number 10 spokesman said: “All travel decisions are made with security and time constraints in mind. The Prime Minister is accompanied on government business by a delegation of staff, which is taken into account as part of ensuring value for the taxpayer’s money. That was the only reason the plane was used to transport the Prime Minister and his staff back from that particular visit.
Johnson’s use of government aircraft has long been the subject of scrutiny. He was accused of “staggering hypocrisy” after it emerged he flew back to London from the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow on a private jet to go to dinner at a male-only private members’ club.
He also took a private jet to Blackpool in February, although the train journey only took three hours.
In 2018, as foreign secretary, Johnson complained that he wanted his own private government jet because the prime minister’s was rarely available and was too grey.
He said on a trip to Buenos Aires: “The taxpayers are not going to want us to have some new luxury jet, but I certainly think it’s astounding that we don’t seem to have access to that kind of thing at the moment. What I will say about Voyager, I think it’s great, but it seems very hard to get hold of. It never seems to be available. I don’t know who uses it, but it never seems to be available. And also, why does it have to be gray?’
Last week, Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were heard comparing the size of their private jets after flying in for the Commonwealth summit in Rwanda.
“I saw Canada Force One — it’s a big plane,” Johnson said in reference to Trudeau’s official plane, better known as Can Force One.
“Not as big as yours,” Trudeau replied, eliciting a polite protest from his British counterpart. “No, ours is very, very modest,” Johnson insisted.
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