A government-chartered plane travelling to a Commonwealth summit in the Caribbean stopped in Manchester to collect Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his wife, Downing Street has confirmed.
The aircraft, which the government leases for prime ministerial travel, departed from Stansted at about 6am on Monday. It carried officials and several pool media reporters but not Burnham, and flew to Manchester roughly 30 minutes later. After remaining on the ground for about an hour, it continued via Canada for refuelling before heading to Antigua and Barbuda, where the Commonwealth heads of government summit begins on Tuesday.
The routing is expected to have been more expensive and environmentally damaging than if Burnham had travelled to London before the departure. It has also exposed the prime minister to accusations of hypocrisy, after Labour criticised former prime minister Rishi Sunak for using private aircraft and helicopters for domestic journeys.
Burnham’s official spokesperson said travel decisions were made on security and operational grounds, adding that the costs would be published in the usual way. The spokesperson said Burnham had been in Scotland on Friday before working from No 10 North in Manchester that evening. Burnham’s family home is in Greater Manchester, and he routinely works there on Fridays and spends the weekend in the area.
Asked whether the arrangement represented value for money, the spokesperson referred back to the government’s position. He also rejected the suggestion that Burnham had avoided returning to London simply for convenience.
Prime ministerial flights generally depart from Stansted, which has a private-flight section providing additional security. When Labour entered government, it cancelled a £40m helicopter contract used for ministerial travel, describing the move as part of an effort to address what it called 14 years of Conservative mismanagement.
Labour had also challenged Sunak’s decision to use an RAF aircraft to travel to Scotland when scheduled flights were available, citing the ministerial code’s guidance that private aircraft should be used only when there is no alternative.
Mike Wood, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, criticised the latest journey, saying Labour had promised to reduce private jet use but appeared to apply different standards to Burnham.
Sources: The Guardian Politics.