Miliband uses Queen's Flight more often than the Queen

Daily Mail 7th September 2008

David Miliband faces questions over his use of £2,000-an-hour RAF jets after it was revealed he has travelled on the Queen’s Flight – military aircraft usually reserved for the Royal Family’s use – at least 16 times in the past year.

Cabinet Office rules say Ministers should use the planes only when no scheduled service is available.

But many of the Foreign Secretary’s trips were to short-haul European destinations such as Paris and Berlin, which are served by dozens of commercial flights each day.

High-flier: David Miliband with his German counterpart at a meeting of EU foreign ministers at Avignon yesterday

The planes Mr Miliband used are based at RAF Northolt in West London and are part of 32 (The Royal) Squadron, which provides transport for the Queen, members of her family and senior military officers.

The Liberal Democrats yesterday demanded to know if ministerial rules had been broken while the Tories accused Mr Miliband, a possible contender for the Labour leadership, of a ‘scandalous’ use of limited military resources.

Aircraft of the Queen’s Flight offer a degree of luxury that would be hard to find on a commercial airliner.

Eleven senior Royals are allowed to use the special flights – the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.

Between them, they flew with the RAF 119 times last year, or just ten times each on average – fewer than the total clocked up by Mr Miliband.

In 2004-05, the latest period for which figures applying individually to the Queen are available, the Monarch used the Royal Squadron seven times only, according to the National Audit Office.

The Foreign Office was unable to say how much Mr Miliband’s journeys had cost the taxpayer.

However, the Royal Household accounts revealed that the hourly rate for use of the four-engined BAe 146, which Mr Miliband used five times, is £2,342. The hourly cost of the smaller HS 125, which he used on 11 occasions, is £973. This price does not include the cost of aviation fuel.

BA Business Class flights from London to Paris start at £319.

Fit for a Queen: A BAe 146 jet of the Queen's Flight

Mr Miliband’s travel arrangements were posted on the Foreign Office website in response to a Freedom of Information inquiry by a member of the public. They appear to clash with the Cabinet Office’s ministerial code, which was strengthened by Gordon Brown after he moved into No 10.

The code says: ‘Non-scheduled flights may be authorised when a scheduled service is not available, or when it is essential to travel by air, but the requirements of official or parliamentary business or security considerations preclude the journey being made by a scheduled service.’

In 2001, Tony Blair issued a personal edict from Downing Street in an attempt to encourage Labour Ministers to make greater use of public transport.

He said RAF planes should be used on a ‘limited’ basis and that ‘the cost of alternative arrangements should be considered before decisions involving substantial costs are made, especially where special flights are being considered as an alternative to scheduled services’.

At the time, the Tories had accused Labour of using the Queen’s Flight as a ‘private taxi service’.

Since becoming Foreign Secretary in June last year, Mr Miliband has used the Queen’s aircraft for trips to 13 European destinations.

On July 18 last year he went to Paris and Berlin, followed by two days in Brussels the following week.

There were also visits to Bucharest, Ankara, Istanbul, Rome, Madrid, Portugal, Luxembourg, Florence and Davos in Switzerland.

All these destinations are served by numerous airlines. On an average weekday there is a choice of 25 passenger flights from London to Paris, 20 to Brussels and 15 to Berlin.

Tory defence spokesman Dr Liam Fox said: ‘At a time when military resources are tight, it is scandalous for Ministers to be using RAF flights when there is a scheduled alternative.’

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey added: ‘David Miliband should ask the Cabinet Secretary to investigate in order to clear the air.’

Last night, the Foreign Office denied the ministerial code had been broken and said Mr Miliband’s diary commitments sometimes made it impractical to use scheduled flights.

A spokesman said: ‘The Foreign Secretary’s travel arrangements are always made to achieve the best possible value for money, and in line with Cabinet Office guidelines on ministerial travel.

‘The majority of his official journeys are made on commercial airlines and trains. However, he is entitled to use RAF flights and this is sometimes the only viable option.’

UK Lockdown point of view
It's never hard to find examples of members of this criminal government breaking the rules, repeatedly lying to us, committing treason, swindling us and generally abusing us in any way they can, however it appears from this case that Zionist David Miliband has even managed to break rules introduced by his own government opting for private RAF flights at our expense which was then quietly covered up in order to stop us finding out about his parasitic activities; it no surprise that Zionist Miliband feels as if he is too good to travel on commercial airliners alongside goyim/cattle like us after all why travel with the public when you can misuse public money and travel in luxury at our expense.