The Prime Minister was in Cornwall and Devon at the weekend ahead of by-elections in Tiverton and Honiton, which his party lost to the Lib Dems. He made a surprise visit to the Royal Cornwall Show on Friday morning and was then photographed by holidaymakers with his family on the beach in St Ives that weekend, as well as a political visit to Tiverton at one point to campaign for the by-election. Johnson also made a trip to Hale, near St Ives, on Monday morning, where he visited a factory and helped pack broccoli. Records show a government plane left London to fly to Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, a helicopter base near the tip of Cornwall, not far from St Ives, early on Monday morning. The use of the government plane was first reported by the Sunday Mirror. The ministerial code states: “Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Official transport should not normally be used for travel arrangements arising from parties or private business, unless justified by security reasons.’ Family are allowed to accompany ministers if it is “clearly in the public interest”, the code says. A No 10 spokesman said: “All travel decisions are made with safety and time constraints in mind. The Prime Minister is accompanied on government affairs by a staff delegation, which is considered as part of ensuring value for money for taxpayers. That was the sole reason the plane was used to transport the Prime Minister and his staff back from that particular visit.” Johnson’s use of government planes has long been under scrutiny. He was accused of “stunning hypocrisy” after it was revealed he flew back to London from the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow by private jet to attend dinner at an all-male private members’ club. He also took a private jet to Blackpool in February, even though the train journey only took three hours. In 2018, as foreign secretary, Johnson complained that he wanted his own private government plane as the prime minister’s was rarely available and was too grey. He said on a trip to Buenos Aires: “Taxpayers are not going to want us to have some fancy new plane, but I certainly think it’s impressive that we don’t seem to have access to that right now. What I will say about Voyager, I think it’s great, but it seems to be very hard to get hold of. It never seems to be available. I don’t know who uses it, but it never seems to be available. And also, why does it have to be gray?’ Last week, Johnson and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were heard comparing the size of their private jets after flying to the Commonwealth summit in Rwanda. “I saw Canada Force One — it’s a big plane,” Johnson said, referring to Trudeau’s official jet, better known as Can Force One. “It’s not as big as yours,” Trudeau replied, prompting a polite protest from his British counterpart. “No, ours is very, very average,” Johnson insisted.
