MPs’ trip to Pacific under fire
MPs who spent an estimated £66,000-plus of taxpayers’ money on a “fact-finding’’ visit to the South Pacific this summer were under fire yesterday.
The Labour-dominated delegation of six MPs, two peers and two aides, flew business class to Fiji via Australia for their 16-day visit to islands including Tonga.
The stated purpose was to strengthen relations and understanding between parliamentarians and look at how the islands are being affected by climate change.
It was just one of a host of overseas trips undertaken by MPs and peers every year.
TaxPayers’ Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “They should be cutting back on these indulgent trips.
“It sticks in people’s throats when they see politicians jetting off at taxpayers’ expense.”
The UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association said it expected the trip to have cost some £66,135.
A visit by another delegation earlier this year to Rwanda cost an estimated £21,637. One to Jamaica cost £27,180 and one to Australia £21,317.
A Commonwealth Parliamentary Association spokesman denied that such trips were exotic jollies. The South Pacific trip will feature in Dispatches: MPs, Planes and Gravy Trains, on Channel 4 on Monday at 8pm.