DOWNING STREET DEFENDS PRIME MINISTER FLIGHT PICKUP IN MANCHESTER

Downing Street has defended flying the Prime Minister's plane from London Stansted to Manchester Airport to collect Prime Minister Andy Burnham. The aircraft took off from Stansted at around 6am on Monday, 2 November, carrying senior officials and UK delegates to the Commonwealth leaders' summit in Antigua and Barbuda. The flight departed without Burnham on board. The plane landed in Manchester after 30 to 34 minutes to pick up Burnham and his wife, Marie-France van Heel. It remained on the ground for around an hour before continuing to the Caribbean via a refuelling stop in Canada.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister’s travel arrangements are made on the basis of security, operational requirements, and value for money for the taxpayer." He added that the arrangements reflected where Burnham was carrying out official government business in the north at the end of last week. According to Downing Street, Burnham spent Friday in Scotland before returning to Manchester on Friday evening to work from Number 10 North. Number 10 did not state why the Prime Minister did not travel back to London over the weekend to fly directly from Stansted.

The Guido Fawkes website estimated the cost of the Stansted-Manchester flight at £20,000. Downing Street declined to state how much the detour cost. Responding to the £20,000 figure, the spokesman said: "I’m not going to comment on speculative figures." He added: "Travel costs will be published in the usual way." Number 10 did not list environmental costs among the considerations for the route. King Charles arrived in the Caribbean on Friday.