 Rishi Sunak has once again defended flying by private jet only hours after announcing hundreds of North Sea oil and gas licences. The prime minister has long faced heated criticism for flying by private plane up and down the UK, with critics noting sustainable travel was often an option. Among the journeys, Sunak has flown by helicopter to Dover (there was an hour-long train) and once took three private jets in only 10 days, including one from London to Blackpool. Private jets have a disproportionate impact on the environment, guzzling more fuel than a commercial plane and are up to 14 times more polluting. But in an awkward and heated interview with the BBC's Good Morning Scotland today, Sunak said he will fly today to Scotland to announce funding for a carbon capture and storage project. 'I'll be flying as I normally would and that's the most efficient use of my time,' he said. Sunak has faced repeated criticism for taking private jets for local flights (Picture: AP) The Tory leader suggested that those criticising him for taking a private jet amid the worsening climate crisis want to ban 'holidays'. 'If you or others think that the answer to climate change is getting people to ban everything that they are doing, to stop people going on holiday, I mean, I think that's absolutely the wrong approach,' he said. Sunak flew by private plane this afternoon to St Fergus, a village just north of Peterhead where the North Sea carbon capture scheme, known as Acorn, will be unveiled. While some of Sunak's private jet trips are at the taxpayer's expense, Tory donors are also known to foot the bill. Sunak insisted that getting to St Fergus by plane is what prime ministers before him have long done, given how 'efficient', he again said, it is. 'But if your approach to climate change is to say no one should go on a holiday, no one should [go on] a plan){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Rishi Sunak has once again defended flying by private jet only hours after announcing hundreds of North Sea oil and gas licences.
The prime minister has long faced heated criticism for flying by private plane up and down the UK, with critics noting sustainable travel was often an option.
Among the journeys, Sunak has flown by helicopter to Dover (there was an hour-long train) and once took three private jets in only 10 days, including one from London to Blackpool.
Private jets have a disproportionate impact on the environment, guzzling more fuel than a commercial plane and are up to 14 times more polluting.