DOWNING Street has defended Rishi Sunak’s decision to fly to Inverness for his two-day visit to Scotland to unveil the Green Freeports. 

A No 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister’s use of an RAF plane meant he had time to meet with Nicola Sturgeon in Inverness last night. 

It follows criticism over his use of an RAF jet to travel from London to Leeds on Monday. Labour described that as a “show of extravagance.”

While there are regular trains between London and Inverness, they do take around eight hours, at least four times the length of a flight. 

However, the £70 cost of a ticket is significantly less than the expense of an RAF jet. 

It also flies in the face of the UK Government's 'Jet Zero' strategy which commits UK domestic aviation to achieving net zero emissions by 2040.

In his speech to the COP27 climate summit last year, Mr Sunak said it was "morally right to honour" the UK's promises on reducing carbon emissions.

Air travel accounts for 22% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions from transport, and 7% of the UK's total emissions overall.

The three-hour return trip on the RAF Dassault Falcon 900LX aircraft would result in an approximate fuel consumption of 945 gallons or about 4300 litres.

That would mean emissions of about nine tonnes of CO2.

 

A No 10 spokesman said: “We always take decisions on the Prime Minister’s transportation with consideration as to the best use of his time and the best use of taxpayer funding.

“In this instance, travelling up by plane allowed him to have that meeting last night with the First Minister.”