Exposed: government flying

During World War II, when fuel was scarce, the govenment made a point of asking people to think twice before travelling. Now that everyone has woken up to climate change, how is the government reacting? Why, by flying as much as possible, of course!

Last year government departments flew a total of 300 million miles. While some of these trips were no doubt essential - it's no surprise that the Foreign Office is number one on the list - does every department need to be abusing their air miles? Why, for instance, did the Department for Work and Pensions fly 9 million miles? Is there really that much benefit fraud in Australia?

Did the Department for Transport have to fly 3 million miles - or were they just sucking up to the aviation industry and attending fancy airport junkets? More importantly, why did Defra, the department charged with tackling the climate crisis, send its staff 1.5 million miles by air? Were there really no trains available?

It's time the government got its house in order. The public is never going to fly less when self-important civil servants are addicted to air travel. Let's see some leadership people. Go buy some sodding video conferencing kit.