Rishi Sunak defends jet use after Labour 'A-list' jibe

Rishi Sunak has said he takes domestic flights to be more "effective" at his job after Labour accused him of an "A-list" lifestyle at taxpayers' expense.

The PM used a French-made RAF jet for the 230-mile journey to Blackpool to promote his "levelling up" policy.

He later flew 120 miles from Blackpool to Darlington, to continue a series of official visits.

It is the third time he has taken domestic flights this month, following trips to Yorkshire and Scotland.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said it made a mockery of the PM's environmental strategy.

She accused Mr Sunak of "jetting around the country on taxpayers' money like an A-list celeb" after the 41-minute flight to Blackpool.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper also criticised the decision, calling the prime minister "out of touch with the rest of society".

"It is simply ridiculous that he can't get a train like the rest of the British public do," she added.

Challenged about his decision to fly during a visit to Morecambe, Mr Sunak said: "I travel around so I can do lots of things in one day.

"I'm not travelling around just for my own enjoyment," he told a local audience. "I travel to make myself as effective as possible on all of your behalf."

Conservative MP Mark Jenkinson also defended the flight, tweeting that it would be "madness" for Mr Sunak to have made the trip via train given the "unreliable" Avanti West Coast service.

The train operator, which runs services between London and the North West, has been criticised by passengers over delays and poor service for more than a year.

In a follow-up tweet, Mr Jenkinson added that even if the trains were running perfectly, travelling by train would still take longer and present a "security risk" for the prime minister.

Mr Sunak reportedly made the trip to Blackpool from RAF Northolt early on Thursday morning, on a 14-seater Dassault Falcon 900LX.

Pictures of the prime minister boarding the same model of plane were posted by his media team ahead of a trip to Leeds earlier this month.

Some of Mr Sunak's recent predecessors - including Boris Johnson and David Cameron - have also faced criticism for using domestic flights.

Mr Johnson was criticised for using planes to travel back from the UN COP climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, and a weekend away with his family in Cornwall in 2022.

Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves are currently in Switzerland to speak at the high-profile business leaders' summit in Davos.

It is understood that the pair flew on a commercial plane to the summit, where they said the UK would be "open for business" if they won power at the next general election.