Boris Johnson sent his ministerial plane back from Cornwall to London after a family trip to the beach.
The Prime Minister and his wife Carrie took their children Wilf and Romy to the seaside in Portminster, St Ives, during the weekend visit to the South West.
Downing Street insisted the “sole reason” for the flight was to transport Johnson and staff back from government work.
The government plane was sent from London to Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, near Helston, on the morning of Monday June 13, the Sunday Mirror first reported.
The Friday before Mr Johnson went to the Royal Cornwall Show where he visited cattle and sheep tents and spoke to local traders. He also met farmers with Conservative candidate Helen Hurford ahead of the Tiverton and Honiton by-election on June 23, which the Lib Dems won in a major blow for the prime minister.
Over the weekend, Mr Johnson was seen enjoying the sun on the beach in St Ives.
On Monday’s flight he went to southern England farms in Hale, where he was photographed driving a tractor, cutting courgettes and weighing broccoli before flying back to London.
Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow attorney-general, accused the prime minister of “treating the government’s official jet as his personal taxi service, regardless of the cost to the environment or the taxpayer”.
“This is the act of a man drunk on power who needs to be told he’s had enough,” she added.
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 taxpayers’ money.
“That was the only reason the plane was used to transport the Prime Minister and his staff back from that particular visit.”
Last year, Boris Johnson was accused of “staggering hypocrisy” after he flew back from the Cop26 climate summit on a private jet to attend a private members’ club dinner in London.
His trip to Cornwall also raised questions about whether the flight was justified under the ministerial code.
“Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective journeys,” the rulebook states.
“Official transport should not normally be used to arrange travel arising from a party or private business, except where justified by security considerations.”
Family members are allowed to join ministers on trips “provided it is clearly in the public interest”.
The same plane was used for Mr Johnson’s diplomatic visit to Rwanda, Germany and Spain.
During the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau, the Prime Minister and Canadian Minister Justin Trudeau compared the relative sizes of their planes.
Mr. Johnson said he saw “Canada Force One” on the tarmac, and Mr. Trudeau joked that the prime minister’s plane was bigger.
“Very modest,” is how Mr. Johnson described his own plane.
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