How would they spin Margaret Beckett’s greater use of the Queen’s Flight than the Queen herself? Easy, you claim it is cheaper than getting the Eurostar to Brussels. Never mind that is a lie.

The “charges” quoted are the nominal charges made by the RAF to the government department. They in no way reflect the real costs. If the RAF were to more realistically apportion charges on a break-even rather than a nominal basis the charges would rise dramatically.

RAF Northolt’s commercial landing fees alone would sky-rocket the costs. When commercial private flights land at Northolt they are charged commercial rates, when the RAF does, they are not. The RAF’s nominal charges do not factor in capital costs, depreciation etcetera. The charge just about covers fuel.

In any event, how does this explain the use of taxpayer funded flights to the Labour party conference by Cabinet ministers? They really know how to live it up at our expense. The politburo in the old Soviet Union used to have reserved traffic lanes so as to be able to zoom past the proletariat in the workers’ paradise. Our government party apparatchiks fly over us, laughing at our expense.