Boris Johnson

Official private plane used for family trip

Boris Johnson took a government private jet home from a weekend with his family in Cornwall, prompting questions about use of taxpayerfunded resources.

The prime minister spent the weekend in Cornwall and Devon the weekend before the Tiverton and Honiton byelection in which his party lost its huge majority to the Lib Dems.

He made a surprise visit to the Royal Cornwall Show on the Friday morning, and then was snapped by holidaymakers with his family on the beach in St Ives, Cornwall, over that weekend as well as making a party political visit to Tiverton, Devon, to campaign in the byelection.

He also went to Hayle, near St Ives, on Monday morning, where he visited a factory and packed broccoli.

Records show that an official government plane left London to fly to Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, a helicopter base near the tip of Cornwall and not far from St Ives, on Monday morning. The use of the government plane was first reported by the Sunday Mirror.

The ministerial code states: “Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements.

“Official transport should not normally be used for travel arrangements arising from party or private business, except where this is justified on security grounds.”

Family are allowed to accompany ministers if it is “clearly in the public interest”, the code says.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “All travel decisions are made with consideration for security and time restraints.

“The PM is accompanied on government business by a delegation of staff, which is taken into consideration as part of ensuring taxpayer value for money. This was the sole reason for the plane being used to transport the PM and his staff back from this particular visit.”

Johnson’s use of government planes has long been under scrutiny. He was accused of “staggering hypocrisy” after he flew back to London from the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow by private jet to go to a dinner at a men’s private members’ club.

He also took a private jet to Blackpool in February, despite the train journey only taking three hours.

In 2018, as foreign secretary, Johnson complained that he wanted his own private government plane as the prime minister’s was rarely available and was too grey.

Speaking on a trip to Buenos Aires, the then foreign secretary said: “The taxpayers won’t want us to have some luxurious new plane, but I certainly think it’s striking that we don’t seem to have access to such a thing.

“What I will say about the Voyager, I think it’s great, but it seems to be very difficult to get hold of. It never seems to be available. I don’t know who uses it, but it never seems to be available. And also, why does it have to be grey?”

Last week, Johnson and Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, were heard comparing the size of their private planes after flying to the G7 summit in Germany.

“I saw Canada Force One – it’s a big plane,” Johnson said, in a reference to Trudeau’s official aircraft, more usually known as Can Force One.

“It’s not quite as big as yours,” Trudeau replied. “No, ours is very, very modest,” Johnson insisted.