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Former environment secretary Michael Gove criticised for using plane for 150-mile trip to Cardiff

‘It shows just how much ministers are failing on transport and climate,’ says environmental group

Thursday 30 January 2020 19:08 GMT

'I am not the prime minister's diary secretary,' Michael Gove says (Getty)

Government ministers have been criticised for flying from London to a meeting in Cardiff – a journey that takes less than two hours by train.

Michael Gove, the former environment secretary, was among six ministers who made the 150-mile journey by military plane earlier this week.

They had travelled to the Welsh capital for a Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) meeting with representatives of the governments of Scotland, Wales and Nothern Ireland.

The UK government claimed chartering a flight from RAF Northolt for ministers and their aides was “an efficient and cost-effective” method of transport.

But opposition parties and environmental campaigners said it showed Downing Street needed to take the climate emergency more seriously.

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

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1/20Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

California

In this decade, humans have become ever more aware of climate change. Calls for leaders to act echo around the globe as the signs of a changing climate become ever more difficult to ignore

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Athens, Greece

Fierce wildfires have flared up in numerous countries. The damage being caused is unprecedented: 103 people were killed in wildfires last year in California, one of the places best prepared, best equipped to fight such blazes in the world

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Redding, California

Entire towns have been razed. The towns of Redding and Paradise in California were all but eliminated in the 2018 season

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Athens, Greece

While wildfires in Greece (pictured), Australia, Indonesia and many other countries have wrought chaos to infrastructure, economies and cost lives

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Carlisle, England

In Britain, flooding has become commonplace. Extreme downpours in Carlisle in the winter of 2015 saw the previous record flood level being eclipsed by two feet

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Hebden Bridge, England

Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has flooded repeatedly in the past decade, with the worst coming on Christmas Day 2015. Toby Smith of Climate Visuals, an organisation focused on improving how climate change is depicted in the media, says: "Extreme weather and flooding, has and will become more frequent due to climate change. An increase in the severity and distribution of press images, reports and media coverage across the nation has localised the issue. It has raised our emotions, perception and personalised the effects and hazards of climate change."

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Somerset, England

Out west in Somerset, floods in 2013 led to entire villages being cut off and isolated for weeks

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Dumfries, Scotland

"In summer 2012, intense rain flooded over 8000 properties. In 2013, storms and coastal surges combined catastrophically with elevated sea levels whilst December 2015, was the wettest month ever recorded. Major flooding events continued through the decade with the UK government declaring flooding as one of the nation's major threats in 2017," says Mr Smith of Climate Visuals

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

London, England

Weather has been more extreme in Britain in recent years. The 'Beast from the East' which arrived in February 2018 brought extraordinarily cold temperatures and high snowfall. Central London (pictured), where the city bustle tends to mean that snow doesn't even settle, was covered in inches of snow for day

PA

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

London, England

Months after the cold snap, a heatwave struck Britain, rendering the normally plush green of England's parks in Summer a parched brown for weeks

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

New South Wales, Australia

Worsening droughts in many countries have been disastrous for crop yields and have threatened livestock. In Australia, where a brutal drought persisted for months last year, farmers have suffered from mental health problems because of the threat to their livelihood

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Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Even dedicated climate skeptic Jeremy Clarkson has come to recognise the threat of climate change after visiting the Tonle Sap lake system in Cambodia. Over a million people rely on the water of Tonle Sap for work and sustinence but, as Mr Clarkson witnessed, a drought has severley depleted the water level

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In reaction to these harbingers of climate obliteration, some humans have taken measures to counter the impending disaster. Ethiopia recently planted a reported 350 million trees in a single day

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Morocco

Morocco has undertaken the most ambitious solar power scheme in the world, recently completing a solar plant the size of San Francisco

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

London, England

Electric cars are taking off as a viable alternative to fossil fuel burning vehicles and major cities across the world are adding charging points to accomodate

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Purmerend, The Netherlands

Cities around the world are embracing cycling too, as a clean (and healthy) mode of transport. The Netherlands continues to lead the way with bikes far outnumbering people

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Xiamen, China

Cycling infrastructure is taking over cities the world over, in the hope of reducing society's dependency on polluting vehicles

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Chennai, India

Despite positive steps being taken, humans continue to have a wildly adverse effect on the climate. There have been numerous major oil spills this decade, the most notable being the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Amazon rainforest, Brazil

More recently, large swathes of the Amazon rainforest were set alight by people to clear land for agriculture

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

California

This decade may have seen horrors but it has led to an understanding that the next decade must see change if human life is to continue

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Muna Suleiman, campaigner at Friends of the Earth, told The Independent: “If a private plane is really the most cost-effective way to travel 200 miles between two capital cities it shows just how much ministers are failing on transport and climate.

"We’re facing runaway climate breakdown so it’s time that environmentally friendly travel options such as train, bus and bicycle are made cheaper and more accessible.”

Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard told the Daily Mirror: "The government needs to wake up to the climate emergency.

"The UK is hosting the UN's global conference on carbon reduction in Glasgow in November and all government ministers should be demonstrating they get how serious the climate crisis is by using trains and buses wherever possible.

"If public transport is good enough for the public it should be good enough for Conservative ministers."

An off-peak single from London to Cardiff costs from £48 if bought on the day of travel.

Tommy Sheppard, the SNP's Commons leader, accused the ministers of using the RAF as "a private taxi service".

"This is completely unacceptable, verging on the abuse of power. It’s typical of the arrogance of those in power,” he told The Herald.

Mr Gove, who is now Cabinet Office minister, was joined on the flight by Scottish secretary Alister Jack, Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith, Welsh secretary Simon Hart, Brexit minister Lord Callanan, and Parliamentary secretary Chloe Smith.

A government spokesperson said: “Six UK government ministers and their support staff travelled to Cardiff to attend the JMC as well as undertaking other official engagements. They travelled in an efficient and cost-effective manner.”

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