Top Tory Grant Shapps had an RAF helicopter choose him up from close to his residence 3 times in six weeks, The Mirror can reveal.
The Defence Secretary, who was answerable for the nation’s transport for 3 years when Boris Johnson was PM, is accused of turning the VIP chopper into “Britain’s most expensive Uber”. Flight information present three events in January and February when he was collected from a subject close to his home.
Mr Shapps has been criticised for getting RAF pilots to whisk him to engagements in Yorkshire, Manchester and Plymouth, and faces questions over whether or not he broke ministerial guidelines. The frontbencher is alleged to have gotten helicopters to choose him up from his Welwyn Hatfield constituency for his private comfort.
On January 11 a GZ100 helicopter flew over 20 miles from Denham Airport to choose up the Cabinet member earlier than taking him as much as Manchester. He spent 5 hours on the HQ of a techniques producer earlier than a 13 minute flight to Preston to go to an arms firm’s meeting and testing facility.
The chopper flew again to RAF Northolt in London – however made a quick cease at Elstree Aerodrome, round seven miles from Mr Shapps’ residence. Less than a month later, on February 2, he was picked up once more by a helicopter which travelled round 25 miles from RAF Northolt to choose him up from the identical subject.
The helicopter then flew again within the course it had come from earlier than persevering with to Plymouth. And on Monday this week a helicopter took him to Yorkshire for a Cabinet assembly, the place Rishi Sunak’s prime staff mentioned bettering public transport.
He was then whisked again to London to deal with the Commons. Labour’s Shadow Paymaster General, Jonathan Ashworth, mentioned: “We all thought Rishi Sunak was dangerous, however Grant Shapps appears to be turning the RAF’s VIP helicopter into Britain’s costliest Uber.
“The ministerial code clearly says that the federal government’s taxpayer-funded jets and helicopters ought to solely acquire ministers from their houses when the time issue is crucial, not for their very own private comfort. Mr Shapps urgently wants to supply proof of why the time issue was crucial in these three cases, or he may have a case to reply earlier than the ethics adviser.”
The ministerial code says non-scheduled flights can only be diverted when the time factor is critical. In these cases a Minister can be picked up from an airfield near their one “offered that the one further price outcomes from the additional flying time wanted to hold out the extra touchdown and take-off”.
A source close to Mr Shapps, who was Transport Secretary from 2019 to 2022, said they were confident the ministerial code hadn’t been broken.
An MOD spokesman said: “The RAF provides travel for the command functions of the MOD and where there is spare capacity, provision is also made for senior Ministers and members of the Royal Household to travel to fulfil their official duties. These arrangements are long-standing and have been operated under successive governments of all political colours. Any travel undertaken is in accordance with our rules and procedure as set out clearly in the Ministerial Code which is available on gov.uk ”