David Davis accused of wasting money after spending almost £50,000 on RAF plane travel around Europe
2 min read
David Davis has been accused of wasting almost £50,000 on RAF planes to get to Brexit meetings.
The Brexit Secretary has used an RAF plane 11 times in the last year while junior ministers and officials in his department have had to get economy flights or the Eurostar.
Mr Davis is said to have spent £9,000 in two days going between Brussels, Madrid and Rome.
Yesterday, Labour MP Stephen Doughty wrote to the Cabinet Office to ask if Mr Davis had broken ministerial code by not travelling cost effectively.
He wrote: “Of course David Davis’s role requires frequent travel to European capitals, but there is no reason why he could not use cheaper commercial services.
“The public voted for Brexit to save money for our public services, not blow it on Air David Davis.”
The Mail on Sunday reported that Mr Davis had initially faced opposition from inside his department, where senior civil servants had asked “why DD should be whisked by private jet across Europe”.
His department published figures which showed that on his first three trips to Europe in his role, he travelled by Eurostar and scheduled flights.
However, after that he flew with an RAF plane to Madrid and Seville, then to Sweden and Finland, then to Budapest, Rome and Warsaw.
Overall, he has spent £47,447 on RAF flights between July 2016 and September this year.
A spokesman for the Department for Exiting the EU said last night: “The Brexit negotiations are critical to the nation’s future and it is right that the Secretary of State has access to whatever mode of transport is most appropriate.
“RAF aircraft have been used to transport senior Ministers from governments over many years because they provide security, flexibility and value for money, especially when travelling in large groups and in multi- legged trips.”
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