PM to get Blair Force One
Tuesday, 20 June 2006 12:00 AM
The prime minister is to get two private aircraft to fly him on official engagements, reports suggest.
The aircraft, which are likely to be a Boeing 737 that seats up to 215 passengers and a smaller plane, would be available for the Queen and other ministers.
However, they have already been dubbed Blair Force One and prompted the ire of opposition MPs, who questioned why Tony Blair needs such an expensive form of transport.
Sources suggest the planes - which Downing Street refused to deny, saying it does not comment on leaked reports - are unlikely to come into service until late next year, which would mean Mr Blair may not even be around to use them.
But shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling warned: "It sends totally the wrong message for ministers to be spending millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on two new, official planes at a time when jobs are being cut in the NHS.
"This reinforces the impression of a government which is out of touch with the real world, and is too concerned with the trappings of office rather than getting on with the job."
Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell questioned whether the aircraft represented good value for the British taxpayer - reports suggest the permanent lease of the planes could cost £1.5 million on top of the £9.5 million that the current system costs.
"At the same time, we are entitled to ask what the prime minister intends to do to reduce the environmental impact of his travel," he added. "How often does he use scheduled services when it would be convenient to do so?"
At the moment, the prime minister uses the Queen's flight, a RAF aircraft, and recent figures showed he has racked up flights worth £1.2 million since 1997 - including once to go on holiday with his family in 2004.
This prompted accusations that he was using the aircraft as a "private taxi service", although Downing Street insisted that he only used it when it was necessary for security.
When he used it to go on holiday, he had made a contribution equivalent to the commercial cost of the flights, officials said - noting also that he was the first prime minister not to use the Queen's flight for holidays as a matter of course.
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