The RAF should not be David Davis’s private airline, no matter what the Cabinet Office says
[Image: @StrongerStabler on Twitter.]
He threw away £2,526 on one flight, on which he brought two other officials – a trip that would have cost less than £200 by Eurostar.
It is all very well to say RAF flights provide “security, flexibility and value for money, especially when travelling in large groups”, as a Brexit Department spokesperson suggested in the Independent article quoted below – but the government cannot seriously expect us to believe this of trips that involved just three people.
And on one occasion, Mr Davis was criticised for having no documentation during the meeting he was attending. Where was the need for security on that occasion?
Mr Davis certainly does appear to have breached the Ministerial Code, which requires MPs’ travel arrangements to be cost-effective.
And the Cabinet Office, if it wants us to accept its decisions, needs to address the issues raised – not try to brush us off with easily-deflected protestations of political motivation.
The Cabinet Office has ruled out an investigation into trips taken by Brexit Secretary David Davis after his department spent tens of thousands of pounds jetting him around Europe.
Newly released data shows his officials spent almost £50,000 in less than a year for 11 trips that involved RAF flights to shuttle Mr Davis to European capitals.
[The] data shows that between December 2016 and September 2017, the Brexit Secretary and his team used RAF planes during 11 trips.The most expensive was a trip to Brussels, Madrid and Rome for policy discussions in June costing more than £9,000 for Mr Davis and three officials to travel.
Then in July of this year he flew to Brussels with two officials on what was described at the time as a “lightning” trip, ahead of the second round of Brexit talks.
It cost £2,526 for all three to fly, though a return ticket on the Eurostar can at times be booked for as little as £65 per person.
A Cabinet Office source said: “There is no question of an investigation. This is a politically motivated attack without substance.”
Source: Cabinet Office rule out investigation into David Davis trips involving RAF flights | The Independent
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These arrogant people have no respect at all for the public finances – if they had their way they would milk them dry, which is what the dimwit Davis is trying to do.