MICHAEL Gove, Alister Jack and other UK ministers have been accused of using RAF flights as a “private taxi service,” following a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee in Cardiff this week.
The Cabinet Office Minister and Scottish Secretary were in the Welsh capital on Tuesday to attend the JMC to discuss Brexit matters.
But, rather than taking the train, with a return trip costing around £50 per person, they decided to use an RAF plane to and from RAF Northholt near Oxford, believed to have cost at least £3,000.
On Tuesday evening, a whisky reception was held at the Scotland Office in Whitehall and one disgruntled Tory at the event complained: “It’s a bit much to take a flight to try and get back for a whisky do.”
However, this assertion was forcefully dismissed by the Government as “categorically untrue”. The Scottish Secretary did not attend the Scotch Whisky Association reception.
The UK Government initially insisted that using the RAF flights was the “most efficient and cost-effective manner” but in a later response dropped the word “most”.
There were six ministers on the flights. As well as Mr Gove and Mr Jack, these were Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Simon Hart, the Welsh Secretary, Chloe Smith, the Minister for the Constitution in the Cabinet Office, and Lord Callanan, the Brexit Minister. They were also accompanied by several officials and aides, meaning there were between 15 and 20 people on the RAF flights.
The Herald was told that ministers have sometimes used RAF flights to attend JMC and British-Irish Council meetings and given there were so many, plus officials and aides, that using an RAF plane was deemed the best option. Tuesday was the first time Mr Jack had used such a flight.
Last night, Tommy Mr Sheppard, the SNP’s Shadow Commons Leader, wrote to the Scottish Secretary, denouncing what he described as his “unnecessary jaunt,” demanding the minister repay his share of the cost of the flights or resign.
Earlier, he told The Herald: “We can’t have ministers running around using the RAF as a private taxi service. It is there for the defence of the realm, not to provide travel for ministers to attend parties or any other purpose.”
The Edinburgh East MP went on: "The Tory Government must publish the cost of this shockingly wasteful taxpayer-funded flight and Alister Jack must repay his share in full or resign.
"It beggars belief that taxpayers are being forced to foot the bill for this unnecessary jaunt when the millionaire Tory Scottish Secretary could have taken the train like anyone else for just £48.
"Claims by a Tory MP that this trip was made so Mr Jack could get back in time for a boozy Westminster party are appalling. Whatever the excuse, it is bad for the environment and an unforgivable waste of public funds at a time when child poverty is soaring due to Tory cuts.”
Mr Sheppard added: "Many people across the UK will regard this as arrogant behaviour from an out-of-touch Tory government and it goes to show that it couldn't be more detached from the lives of millions of ordinary people who are struggling to get by after a decade of Tory austerity."
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “Six UK Government ministers and their support staff travelled to Cardiff to attend an important inter-governmental meeting on Brexit as well as undertaking other official engagements.
“They travelled in an efficient and cost-effective manner. It is categorically untrue to suggest the flight was used to attend a whisky reception.”
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