Rishi Sunak defends the use of private jets for UK travel

Rishi Sunak says every prime minister before him has also used planes to travel around the UK. Credit: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street

Rishi Sunak has defended using a private jet to travel around the UK, saying it was the «most efficient» use of his time.

The Prime Minister has been repeatedly criticized by his political opponents for using private helicopters and planes instead of driving a car or taking a train to travel around the country.

Critics argue that the use of private jets was a waste of taxpayer money and is inconsistent with the government's plan to achieve zero emissions by 2050.

But on Monday, Mr Sunak launched into a passionate defense of his travels as he said «every prime minister before me has also used planes to travel around the United Kingdom.»

He also argued that fighting change The climate should not stop people from flying, insisting that it would be «absolutely the wrong approach.»

Should the Prime Minister use a private jet to travel around the UK?

On Monday morning, Mr Sunak visited the North East of Scotland to make a series of announcements related to energy and green spaces.

During an interview with BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland, he was asked how he traveled to the region.

He replied: «I will fly as usual, and this is the most efficient use of my time.»

“But then again, I think this is actually a big debate here. If you or anyone else thinks that the answer to climate change is to get people to ban everything they do, to stop people from flying, to stop people from going on vacation, I think that is absolutely the wrong approach.

«Every prime minister before me has also used planes to travel around the UK because it's an efficient use of time for the person running the country so I can focus on working for the people.»

G Mr. Sunak argued that new technologies could provide answers to climate-related problems.

He said: «If your approach to climate change is that no one should go on vacation, no one should fly on a plane, I think you are completely and completely wrong.

«This is absolutely is not an approach to tackling climate change, and in fact we are investing in sustainable jet fuel as one of the emerging technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, [it] will help us make the transition.

«This is the right approach to this».

«Reckless game»

Mr Sunak came under fire as early as February this year after he flew back to London from Dorset and then returned to the South West of England for a visit to Cornwall the next day.

The Liberal Democrats accused prime minister for «recklessly playing with CO2 emissions» and said he seemed to think he was «higher than using trains».

In March of this year, it was revealed that Mr. Sunak had spent over £500,000 taxpayers. money to rent a private jet for two weeks as he undertook a series of international trips.

The PM made his last trip to the Cop27 climate change conference in Egypt in November before attending the G20. Summit in Indonesia next week.

This was followed by trips to Latvia and Estonia for the Joint Expeditionary Force meeting and Her Majesty's visit.

Downing Street insisted so that the combined cost of renting a private or RAF aircraft for eight days is £512,321.