Burnham's Flight to Caribbean Summit Stops in Manchester
A government-chartered plane carrying Andy Burnham to a Commonwealth summit in the Caribbean stopped in Manchester on Monday to collect him, Downing Street said.
The plane, a government-leased aircraft used for prime ministerial travel, left Stansted Airport at about 6am. Prime ministerial flights usually depart from Stansted, which has a section for private flights that allows extra security. The aircraft was bound for Antigua and Barbuda, where the Commonwealth heads of government summit, a meeting of leaders from the Commonwealth association of countries, begins on Tuesday.
Burnham and his wife boarded in Manchester about 30 minutes after the plane left Stansted. They joined officials and pool media reporters, a small group of journalists who travel with officials and share their reporting with others, who were already on board. The aircraft then stayed on the ground in Manchester for an hour before departing via Canada for a refuelling stop.
Burnham's official spokesperson said travel decisions are made on security and operational grounds, which are not commented on, and that travel costs will be published in the usual way. Asked whether the Manchester stop represented value for money, the spokesperson referred back to that position. When asked whether Burnham did not want the effort of returning to London, the spokesperson replied, "I don't accept that."
The spokesperson said Burnham had been in Scotland on Friday before going to Manchester to work from No 10 North that evening. Downing Street defended the decision for Burnham to be collected by plane in Manchester shortly after it took off from London, according to Manchester Evening News and The National.
The flight comes as the question of Britain's past is on the summit's agenda. Ahead of the meeting, Burnham said he is open to calls for a formal apology for Britain's historical role in slavery.
