The Foreign Secretary has defended chartering a private jet to Australia after reports estimated the journey would have cost taxpayers around £500,000. However, a quote from a document she co-authored has come back to haunt her.
Critics said the move was a “grotesque misuse” of public money, but Liz Truss said the Government plane was available “precisely so that Government ministers can travel”.
The Independent reported the Foreign Secretary had opted for the chartered flight for her trip last week due to security concerns, although commercial routes 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 to operate.
Ms Truss, asked about the reports, told broadcasters during a trip to Northern Ireland: “I used the Government plane – that is why we have a Government plane: to enable Government ministers to conduct Government business, and that’s what I flew to Australia in.”
Pressed on whether it would have been better to have used commercial flights instead, the Cabinet minister said: “Every Government decision is based on value for money.
“We have a Government plane specifically so ministers, like me in my role as Foreign Secretary, can go and do the work overseas, which is ultimately delivering for the British people.”
However,Paul Waugh pointed out the irony from the ‘Back to Black’ cost-cutting document she co-authored in 2009, she said public officials should consider flying economy rather than business class…
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