The Tory net zero chief has brushed off a question about Rishi Sunak’s private jet habit.
Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho was confronted over whether it was “a good look” for the PM to zip around the country in the sky for brief campaign visits. But she dismissed the question and in a bizarre defence said Mr Sunak travelling by private jet was not going to “make a massive difference when it comes to carbon emissions”.
The minister was asked by Sky News: “Is it a good look to have Rishi Sunak travelling around the country, thousands for miles for short campaign stops, on a private jet?” Ms Coutinho replied: “In all of these things, whether you’re Prime Minister or whatever it is you might be doing, you have to look at how we’re travelling, that’s very important.
“But also we need to make sure we are speaking to people in the country, this is a democracy, I think it’s right that the prime minister goes and talks to people, particularly when we are in such uncertain times.”
Ms Coutinho was pressed on whether he has to use a private jet. “That’s not going to make a massive difference when it comes to carbon emissions, let’s be serious,” she replied.
During his time in Downing Street, Mr Sunak has used private jets and helicopters to zip around the UK more than any other Prime Minister. According to analysis last summer, the PM took one flight every eight days on average up to that point. Many of the journeys are very short, such as when he used a helicopter to visit Southampton, which would have taken just over an hour by train.
Two thirds of voters say Rishi Sunak’s private jet habit is a bad use of taxpayers’ money. Some 66% don’t think it’s good value for the Prime Minister to take a private helicopter or jet to save time – including 56% of staunch Conservatives.
Research by More in Common, published last month, found some 66% of people intending to vote Conservative think it is “rarely” or “never” appropriate for politicians to travel domestically by plane, compared to 64% of the public. Meanwhile, more than half (52%) of voters believe those who fly by private jet should be charged more per flight in order to pay for green technologies.
Labour’s Rachel Reeves last year pledged to clamp down on ministers using private jets when they could get a regular flight. The Shadow Chancellor told Brits she wants “people to say ‘I can trust her with my money’.” Three quarters of the public back the plan, with just 5% thinking it a bad idea, the poll found.