Rishi Sunak defends non-public jet journeys as ‘most effective use of my time’

Rishi Sunak has defended his use of personal jets for journeys inside the UK, saying it was “the most efficient use of my time”.

The prime minister has confronted rising criticism for taking non-commercial flights as a substitute of utilizing extra sustainable transport when heading out of Downing Street to make bulletins or perform visits.

Recent examples that noticed him come underneath fireplace from local weather campaigners and opposition MPs included a visit by helicopter to Dover, which might have taken simply over an hour by prepare, and one other helicopter experience to Southampton, which might are available in at one hour 14 minutes by rail.

Some journeys are coated by the taxpayer, whereas others are understood to be paid for by Conservative Party donors.

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Ahead of a visit to Scotland on Monday – the place he’s saying new oil and fuel drilling licenses amid ongoing rows about local weather commitments in his social gathering – Mr Sunak was requested by a BBC radio presenter if he deliberate to make use of a personal jet to get to the nation.

He replied: “I’ll be flying as I normally would and that is the most efficient use of my time.”

The prime minister then launched right into a extra defensive response, telling BBC Radio Scotland: “But again I think actually that question brings to life a great debate here.

“If you or others assume the reply to local weather change is getting individuals to ban the whole lot that they’re doing, to cease individuals from flying, to cease individuals occurring vacation, I believe that’s completely the fallacious strategy.”

Mr Sunak added: “Every prime minister before me has also used planes to travel around the United Kingdom because it is an efficient use of time for the person running the country so I can keep focusing on delivering for people.

“But in case your strategy to local weather change is to say nobody ought to go on a vacation, nobody ought to [go on] a airplane, I believe you might be fully and totally fallacious – that’s completely not the strategy to tackling local weather change.”

Presenter Martin Geissler mentioned there was “a difference between using a private jet and taking a [commercial] flight”.

But the prime minister continued: “What we are doing is investing in sustainable aviation fuel as one of the new technologies like carbon capture and storage which will help us make the transition.

“It is just not about banning flying, it’s about investing in new applied sciences like sustainable aviation gasoline that can make flying extra sustainable, that is the best strategy to this.”