The Liberal Democrats branded the expenses as a “shocking waste of taxpayers’ money” during the cost-of-living crisis…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spent more than €500,000 of taxpayers’ money on private jets in just over a week last year, according to The Guardian.
The UK government spent just under €108,000 on private jet travel for Rishi Sunak’s attendance at the COP27 summit in Egypt, flying in on 6 November and returning the following day, the newspaper said. A week later, he set off on a round trip to the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, at a cost of over €340,000.
Sunak’s Latvia and Estonia trip in December incurred travel costs of €62,498, with personal costs of €2,500, The Guardian report said.
The Liberal Democrats branded the expenses as a “shocking waste of taxpayers’ money” during the cost-of-living crisis.
“This is a shocking waste of taxpayers’ money at a time when people are struggling to pay their bills. Yet again this Conservative government is completely out of touch,” the tweet said.
The Downing Street said Sunak’s travel was for “vital meetings with world leaders”. “The role of the Prime Minister includes holding vital meetings with world leaders during bilateral visits and summits to discuss issues of international importance – including security, defence and trade,” a government spokesperson said.
The UK’s Opposition parties are also piling on the pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over a recent Budget policy that could allegedly benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interest in a childcare firm.
Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, is listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids Ltd which is likely to benefit from a new pilot scheme announced in the Spring Budget earlier this month to incentivise people to become childminders.
While 10 Downing Street has stated that Prime Minister Sunak had followed the UK’s ministerial code on the matter, the Opposition has called for further explanations.
The plane is painted with a union flag tail fin, and is a de facto equivalent to the official aircraft used by some other world leaders.
Wera Hobhouse, the Liberal Democrats’ energy and climate spokesperson, said: “This is a shocking waste of taxpayers’ money at a time when people are struggling to pay their bills. Yet again this Conservative government is completely out of touch.
“The government can pretend to care about a greener future with their so-called ‘green day’ but the reality is they are trashing their own promises.”
The Cabinet Office costings document shows nearly another £20,000 was spent on other costs for the prime ministers, including accommodation, meals and visas.
This does not include the costs for officials who also went on the trips. The delegations varied in size from the 19 who accompanied Truss to Prague to the 35 who joined Sunak in Bali.
Some prime ministerial flights, for example those to and from Bali, also carry members of the travelling UK press, who pay for the flights.
A Downing Street spokesperson defended the flights. They said: “The role of the prime minister includes holding vital meetings with world leaders during bilateral visits and summits to discuss issues of international importance – including security, defence and trade.”
Meanwhile, Opposition parties are piling on the pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over a recent Budget policy that could allegedly benefit his wife, Akshata Murty, through her business interest in a childcare firm.
Akshata Murty, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, is listed as a shareholder in Koru Kids Ltd which is likely to benefit from a new pilot scheme announced in the Spring Budget earlier this month to incentivise people to become childminders.
While 10 Downing Street has stated that Prime Minister Sunak had followed the UK’s ministerial code on the matter, the Opposition has called for further explanations.
“There are serious questions for Rishi Sunak to answer over any potential conflict of interest, and any extra income his family could receive from his own government’s policy,” said Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain, who has called on the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests Sir Laurie Magnus to investigate.
First reported by the ‘i’ newspaper, the UK’s Companies House register lists Ms Murty as a shareholder in Koru Kids – one of six childminder agencies in England listed on the government’s website with contact details.
Labour’s Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, said Prime Minister Sunak must explain why he failed to “come clean” about the shares his family held in a company now set to financially benefit from a childcare policy announced in his Budget, when queried during a parliamentary session of the Liaison Committee earlier this week.
“He must urgently correct the record and set out what steps he took to avoid an actual or perceived conflict of interest. No proper explanation has yet been provided by the Prime Minister as to why this was not deemed necessary to publish in the register of members’ interests,” she said.
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