Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward's £70,000 luxury trips to the US... paid for by the taxpayer

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Mr Woodward, who is married to supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury, flew first-class and stayed at some of the grandest hotels in Washington and New York, including the Four Seasons in Manhattan, where the cheapest rooms cost £350-a-night.

Within weeks of being promoted to the Cabinet last June, Mr Woodward and three staff travelled to Washington and New York for three nights at a cost of £21,300.

In October, a trip to Boston and New York for two nights, again with three staff, cost £29,125.

The next month Mr Woodward and two staff visited New York and Washington for five nights and spent £19,500.

Ulster Unionist Lord Laird of Artigarvan said using public money in this way was "completely alien".

The Northern Ireland Office said: "Mr Woodward meets a range of important Irish-American opinion-formers in America who have been supportive in the peace process."