'Travelling like A-list celeb': Downing street defends PM's use of jet to travel around northern England

19 January 2023, 14:46 | Updated: 19 January 2023, 15:28

Downing Street has defended Rishi Sunak's using a jet to travel around northern England, as Labour accuse PM of "jetting around the UK like an A-list celeb".

The PM flew on an RAF jet from Northolt in London to Blackpool, as he made a series of visits in northern England linked to an levelling up funding announcement.

Labour accused the UK premier of "jetting around the country on taxpayers' money like an A-list celeb" and said the Tory leader made of "mockery" of his environmental strategy after the 41-minute flight today.

But Downing Street defended the move as "the best use of his (the prime minister's) time".

Addressing the criticism the flight received, the PM's spokesperson said: "As I've said on a number of occasions, the prime minister will use different modes of transport depending on what's in the best interest of the best use of his time to enable him to get around the entire UK.

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"He's going to three different locations in the UK today. He's spoken to the prime minister of Israel. He'll be back in Downing Street later. So, we use the right modes of transport to enable him to do that."

When asked if the Prime Minister wished that trains were reliable enough to use, the spokesperson said: "That's not the factor that obviously decides this and you'll know we are investing huge sums into our railways."

The No 10 official couldn't indicate when Mr Sunak last travelled by train, saying: "I haven't asked him that question."

The Prime Minister, who has announced today that over £2bn will be invested in more than 100 projects across the UK through the levelling-up fund, faced similar criticism for using an RAF jet to fly 200 miles to Leeds for a visit to a healthcare centre earlier this month.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said at the time: "Families will be rightly angered by this show of extravagance by Rishi Sunak.

"Patients and staff are crying out for action from this government in the midst of a crisis in our NHS while the prime minister jets from London to Leeds for a photo op.

"The prime minister must come clean about how much taxpayers' money was wasted on this 36-minute plane journey for a three-hour visit at the height of a cost-of-living crisis."

On that occasion Downing Street defended the chosen mode of transport with the same justification as today, saying that it was the "most effective use of his time".

His spokesperson said: "The transport the prime minister takes will vary and is always done with any interests of most effective use of time, enabling him to get around the entirety of the UK when there is a great deal of pressure on his time.

"It will vary depending on what's most appropriate."