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Met 'spends £12m in three years flying business class'
Emma Rowley24.08.09
The Met has spent more than £12million on first and business-class flights over three years, according to reports.
Officers have reportedly taken thousands of flights at taxpayers' expense to destinations across the world.
Nearly £70,000 was said to have been spent on 33 business-class flights to the Beijing Olympics for a fact-finding mission before London 2012. Meanwhile Mayor Boris Johnson and most of his entourage flew economy class.
A group of royal protection officers were said to have spent almost £10,000 on business-class fares to Antigua before the Duchess of York and her daughters holidayed there.
Scotland Yard's bill for flying in first and business class is alleged to have grown by more than 17 per cent since April 2007, with the cost for 2008-2009 topping £4.6million.
Details released under the Freedom of Information Act showed many of the fares related to trips taken by members of the royal protection squad, SO14, and SO1, which guards politicians.
Scotland Yard said it could not confirm the reported figure of £12.5million. A spokeswoman said the Met sought "the cheapest price travel available bearing in mind operational demands".
Reader views (11)
John - you don't read too good do you ?
Boris Johnson took economy flights!
- Mm, Dublin, Ireland
Hello London,
Where is CITY HALL and BORIS, he is so posed to look after the council tax payers.
The M.Ps., expenses could end up peanuts compared to this?.
- John L., Scarborough N. Yorkshire . England. U.K.
Sue in Orpington and I have final found a meeting-point in our politics . . . ! Unfortunately the word 'politician' was originally used 500 years ago to refer to someone who plots: Dannatt would never survive against the lizards in Whitehall. As a true endorsement take a squizz at the Telegraph's breakdown of his entertainment costs - cheaper than taking the Chiefs of other countries' armies to any High Street restaurant.
C'mon City workers: how many of you are allowed to fly business class if Economy is available? What this boils down to is the Public Sector is spending other people's money to live the way it imagines the Other Half lives: except they don't - people who make money tend to be fairly sensible about spending it.
- Roz, France
Hahaha. Why am I not surprised...
- Mel Barrows., Tenerife. Canary Islands.
Interesting to note that the royal protection squad are among the big spenders on business class.
Can't help wondering how much the York family really do cost us in a year. The daughters are back in the Caribbean and mummy and daddy York are apparently shacking up in Spain. How many bodyguards does that entail and at what cost?
It's us, the taxpayers, who are the victims of this protection racket and it's time it was reviewed.
- Scotty, Cambridge UK
Who said crime doesn't pay. It does for the police.
- Stephen C, London
It is time there was a public watchdog appointed to supervise the things these people spend so much public money on and force them to economise . Four course meals are not on and first class hotels and travel either.
T H Leeds
- Thomas Hayes, Leeds UK
I think General Sir Richard Dannatt should be made PM. He seems the only one capable of not only being totally honest but practical, sensible and who ensures he gets value for money, and that everything he is responsible for is fit for purpose! Every other public servant seems to either have their snouts in the trough, are totally incapable of telling the truth or can't mustter up anything that works properly and is within budget.
- Sue, Orpington, Kent
Trouble is, people arent even shocked by this anymore and this is the real problem. The civil gravy train, a one stop shop on the way to earning your fortune.
- Alanac, London
'Operational demands' - General Sir Richard Dannatt seems to be the only public servant without his snout in the trough.
- Andy Davids, London
Fact finding missions? Why don't they just ring up and ask.
- Paul Bokor, Cambridge, UK
