According to reports, Boris Johnson flew a private jet from the COP26 summit of Glasgow to London to attend a reunion meal with Telegraph journalists at a private members’ club.
The Prime Minister attended the evening gathering with his former colleagues at The Garrick, in London’s West End, after flying 400 miles from the climate-change conference in Glasgow on Tuesday evening.
Mr Johnson, who appeared to be wearing his rented £495 Oliver Brown suit from earlier that day, was seen leaving the exclusive club at 10pm last night alongside the former editor of the Telegraph Charles Moore, pictures obtained by The Mirror show.
A Downing street spokesperson stated that the PM used sustainable aviation fuel and flew on one of the most carbon-efficient planes his size in the world.
Boris Johnson took a private plane from the COP26 summit last night in Glasgow to London.
According to the Mirror, the PM was reported to have taken off from Glasgow Prestwick airport at 6.20pm and arrived at London Stansted at around the same time. He was then met by his security team and driven to the club.
A spokesperson for Downing Street told The Mirror that all travel decisions are made taking into account security and time constraints.
‘The prime Minister returned Tuesday night from four days in Rome, Glasgow and before updating parliament on the important agreements made at the G20/Cop26.
“The prime minister flew on one of the most efficient planes of its size in world using the most sustainable aviation fuel. All carbon emissions related to running Cop26, including travel, will be offset by the UK.
Downing Street earlier this week confirmed that Mr Johnson would fly back to London by private jet because of ‘time constraints’ which prevent him from using the direct train route between London and Washington.
When asked why the Prime Minister couldn’t travel by train to the UK, the spokesperson said that it was important that he could travel around the country without being restricted by time.
The emissions from Mr Johnson’s charter aircraft are less than half those of the RAF Voyager, which the Prime Minister occasionally uses for travel abroad.
However, its use will encourage critics to claim there are one set of rules that applies to the global rich and another to everyone else. This is despite efforts to reduce global air travel and emissions.
“Our approach to tackling climate changes is to use technology so we don’t need to change how we travel, rather we use technology to create electric vehicles so we can still get at net zero,” the spokesperson said.
After flying 400 miles from Glasgow, the Prime Minister attended the evening gathering at The Garrick.
Mr Johnson, who previously worked at the Daily Telegraph, was seen leaving the club alongside the former editor of the Telegraph Charles Moore. Pictured: Mr Johnson in 2006 with Charles Moore, Daniel Hannan, and Greg Clark
“That is the heart of our approach.”
‘It is vital that the Prime Minister can move about the country. We face significant time constraints.
The plane that the Prime Minister used to travel is one of the most efficient in terms of carbon emissions of its size. It emits 50% less CO2 than the Voyager plane.
It uses a special type of fuel, which is a blend between 35 per cent sustainable aircraft fuel and 65 per percent normal fuel. This is the maximum allowed amount.
Mr Johnson flew in the aircraft, operated Titan Airways, to go to the G20 summit in Rome Friday, and then on to Glasgow Sunday.
This disclosure was made after Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of India, faced hypocrisy accusations when he announced a cut to air passenger duty on short haul flights and a further freeze of fuel duty in his Budget last Week, just days before COP26.