Boris Johnson was accused of hypocrisy last night after he travelled back from Cop26 on a private jet to attend a dinner at a men-only private members’ club.
The prime minister flew 400 miles from Glasgow to the engagement at the Garrick Club, attended by Conservative peers and the climate change sceptic Lord Moore of Etchingham, according to The Daily Mirror. The newspaper reported that the dinner at the club was for Daily Telegraph journalists, where Johnson was a columnist. Moore is a former Telegraph editor.
Johnson has left himself open to accusations of double standards after urging other countries to do everything possible to pledge lower emissions and warning that they would be judged by their children if they failed to act. Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s chairwoman, said: “This is staggering hypocrisy from the prime minister. After warning world leaders it’s one minute to midnight to prevent a climate catastrophe, Boris Johnson clocked off from Cop26, jumped in his private jet and flew down to London for dinner. It seems that when it comes to taking action to tackle the climate crisis, there’s one rule for the Conservatives and another rule for the rest of the world.”
A No 10 spokesman told the newspaper: “All travel decisions are made with consideration for security and time restraints. The prime minister travelled on one of the most carbon efficient planes of its size in the world. The UK will be offsetting all carbon emissions associated with running Cop26.”
