Sunak diverted RAF jet to select him up after political occasion and take him to Rome

Rishi Sunak flew by taxpayer funded RAF jet to a far-right political competition, the Mirror understands.

And Downing Street final evening confirmed the jet had been flown empty from London to Teeside, whereas the PM travelled there by practice to marketing campaign in a marginal seat close to his dwelling. Mr Sunak visited the village of Yarm in Stockton South, in a bid to restore the harm attributable to claims his Home Secretary, James Cleverly had branded close by Stockton North a ’s***gap’.

The Ministerial code bans the PM from diverting authorities planes for journeys “to or from party business or constituency visits.” Exceptions can solely be made when the time issue is “critical” – and even then, solely when the one further price is “the extra flying time needed to carry out the additional landing and take-off.”

In this case, the jet flew to Durham on Friday afternoon and stayed in a single day, earlier than choosing Mr Sunak up on Saturday morning for his flight to Rome. This would incur further prices for in a single day lodging for the jet’s RAF crew.

The Prime Minister has confronted mounting criticism over his use of pricey personal air journey – each funded by taxpayers and by Tory donors. When the Prime Minister has beforehand travelled to political occasions by air, he has tended to rent personal jets or helicopters which are both paid for – or offered by – Conservative donors, to keep away from accusations of utilizing taxpayers’ cash for political functions.

On April 23 this yr, he used an Embraer 500 jet to attend the Scottish and Welsh Conservative Conferences, and later declared that the £36,500 price of the airplane for him and his aides had been paid for by Tory donor Akhil Tripathi. And this week it was revealed The Phoenix Partnership, an organization owned by a serious Tory donor, had paid £16,000 for a helicopter to take Rishi Sunak on one other marketing campaign go to in Yorkshire on 24 November.

Labour Party Chair, Anneliese Dodds, stated: “We know all about the Prime Minister’s addiction to private air travel, but in the past, he has usually been careful not to ask the taxpayer to foot the bill when he is using his fleet of private jets and luxury helicopters to travel to political events.

“That makes it all of the extra stunning and inexplicable on this event that he ought to ship an empty taxpayer-funded RAF jet to attend whereas he went campaigning in a marginal seat in the future, after which fly him to a far-right political competition in Rome the subsequent.”

She added: “Has he forgotten the rules in his own ministerial code, or is he just not bothered any more about what the British people think, or how much he is asking them to pay?”

A Downing Street source said the cost of the flights and the PM’s train fare would be split between the Cabinet Office and Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ). But the letter of the Ministerial Code does not allow for planes to be diverted to political events, even if they are reimbursed.

If Mr Sunak had not made the trip to Durham for the campaign visit, the plane could have flown him directly from London to Rome on Saturday morning.

No10 insisted the PM’s use of the plane in this way had been approved by the Cabinet Office, and claimed they had not “waived” the rules.

A Government spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister regularly uses all forms of travel. His travel plans will vary and are always decided with consideration to the most efficient and best use of his time, and the interests of the taxpayer, in full accordance with the ministerial code and in line with established practice.”