No 10 defends detour to pick up Burnham for Caribbean summit

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 2 Nov, 15:18 · Archive

Downing Street defended flying the Prime Minister's plane via Manchester to collect Andy Burnham en route to the Commonwealth leaders' summit in Antigua and Barbuda.

Downing Street defended flying the Prime Minister's plane via Manchester to pick up Andy Burnham on the way to the Commonwealth leaders' summit in the Caribbean. The Government plane departed London Stansted at around 6am for Antigua and Barbuda carrying senior officials but without Mr Burnham on board. He was collected from Manchester along with his wife Marie-France van Heel approximately half an hour later, with the plane grounded there for around an hour before continuing via Canada for a refuelling stop.

Downing Street said Mr Burnham had been based in the north at the end of the previous week and cited security, operational requirements and value for money for the taxpayer when defending the routing decision. The Prime Minister's official spokesman stated: 'The Prime Minister's travel arrangements are made on the basis of security, operational requirements, and value for money for the taxpayer. The Prime Minister's travel arrangements reflect where he was carrying out official government business at the end of last week. He spent the day in Scotland on Friday, returned to Manchester to work from Number 10 North on Friday evening.'

Downing Street declined to comment on suggestions that the route via Manchester could have cost around £20,000 more than flying straight from Stansted. The Government was also not drawn on why the Prime Minister could not have travelled back to London over the weekend to fly from Stansted instead. The environmental cost of flying via Manchester does not appear to have been one of the factors considered in the decision.

How it is being reported

• No 10 defends Stansted-Manchester flight to pick up PM 'en route' to CaribbeanDowning Street defends flying the Prime Minister’s plane via Manchester to collect Andy Burnham for the Commonwealth summit, amid slavery apology calls.Brentwood Guardian · 2 Nov, 14:45
• No 10 defends Stansted-Manchester flight to pick up PM 'en route' to CaribbeanDowning Street defends flying the Prime Minister’s plane via Manchester to collect Andy Burnham for the Commonwealth summit, amid slavery apology calls.Echo (Basildon) · 2 Nov, 14:45
• No 10 defends Stansted-Manchester flight to pick up PM 'en route' to CaribbeanDowning Street defends flying the Prime Minister’s plane via Manchester to collect Andy Burnham for the Commonwealth summit, amid slavery apology calls.Colchester Gazette · 2 Nov, 14:45

In this story: Andy Burnham · Marie-France van Heel · Downing Street · Manchester · Stansted · Antigua and Barbuda · Scotland · Canada

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