Climate protection in the 14-seat jet: Rishi Sunak outraged with a short-haul flight
Created: 01/13/2023 15:12
By: Alexander Eser-Ruperti
Rishi Sunak causes displeasure with a short-haul flight.
New data from Germany show that there is also a worrying trend in private flights.
LONDON – Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is once again causing a stir in the UK.
The background is the flight of the head of government from London to Leeds in the RAF jet – which has 14 seats.
In the context of current climate debates, which are also making waves on the island, the prime minister cuts a bad figure from the critics' point of view.
Recent data shows Sunak is emblematic of a worrying trend well beyond the UK.
In Germany, the number of short-haul flights in private jets has increased massively in the past year, a fatal signal to the average consumer - and an indication of who bears the greatest responsibility for the poor climate balance.
Climate protection: Rishi Sunak stirs up spirits in Great Britain with flight from London to Leeds
As kreiszeitung.de reports, Rishi Sunak and his governing Tories are currently in a difficult position among the population of Great Britain, as polls and strikes show.
Now Prime Minister Sunak is also attracting attention with a short-haul flight from London to Leeds.
In the past, the question of the seriousness of his efforts in terms of climate goals had arisen again and again.
Sunak recently left for Leeds to announce a £200m investment in thousands of additional care beds.
To this end, he had visited a health center in Leeds with Social Affairs Minister Helen Whately, the
Guardian
reports.
Rishi Sunak causes trouble with a short-haul flight.
(Iconic image) © Jane Barlow/PA Wire/dpa
The national health system NHS is idle, it requires large investments, although the government denies a crisis.
It was an important date for Sunak.
However, the distance he covered from London would have taken him little more than two and a half hours by train.
In addition to the climate policy dimension, critics in Great Britain also raise the question of how the government deals with taxpayers' money.
According to the Guardian
, Downing Street referred to
the Prime Minister's effective use of time, an argument that critics hardly understand given the short travel time by train.
Criticism of Sunak from the climate movement is nothing new: Greenpeace activists recently projected images of climate poverty onto the Prime Minister's house.
Rishi Sunak: British PM is the face of a problem with private flights - not only in the UK
The case of Rishi Sunak not only highlights his person and the Tories in Great Britain, but also represents a general problem: The number of short-haul flights in private jets is also increasing in Germany, as the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
reports.
Climate experts warn of a dangerous trend.
More private flights took off from airports in Germany last year than ever before, with an increase of around nine percent compared to the previous year.
In total, aircraft took off more than 94,000 times in 2022, which, according to the air control organization Eurocontrol, are assigned to the business segment.
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Broken down to the individual day, that is 260 flights of this type. The share of private flights in the total air traffic in Germany is also significant: private jet flights accounted for around 12 percent of all German air traffic last year.
In Britain, the prime minister sets a bad example, despite the fact that his case was a business appointment.
The government finds explanations, but the flight is symbolic.
However, one thing is becoming clear: it is by no means a purely British problem, as the figures from Germany show.
