Miliband uses Queen’s Flight Like a Taxi Service

davgree — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:57:36 +0000

David Miliband faces questions over his use of £2,000-an-hour RAF jets after it was revealed he has travelled on the Queen’s Flight – military aircraft usually reserved for the Royal Family’s use – at least 16 times in the past year.

Cabinet Office rules say Ministers should use the planes only when no scheduled service is available.
The planes Mr Miliband used are based at RAF Northolt in West London and are part of 32 (The Royal) Squadron, which provides transport for the Queen, members of her family and senior military officers.
Eleven senior Royals are allowed to use the special flights – the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
The Foreign Office was unable to say how much Mr Miliband’s journeys had cost the taxpayer.
However, the Royal Household accounts revealed that the hourly rate for use of the four-engined BAe 146, which Mr Miliband used five times, is £2,342. BA Business Class flights from London to Paris start at £319.

Mr Miliband’s travel arrangements were posted on the Foreign Office website in response to a Freedom of Information inquiry by a member of the public. The code says: ‘Non-scheduled flights may be authorised when a scheduled service is not available, or when it is essential to travel by air, but the requirements of official or parliamentary business or security considerations preclude the journey being made by a scheduled service.’
At the time, the Tories had accused Labour of using the Queen’s Flight as a ‘private taxi service’.
Since becoming Foreign Secretary in June last year, Mr Miliband has used the Queen’s aircraft for trips to 13 European destinations.

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Miliband uses Queen’s Flight Like a Taxi Service