'Air miles Andy!' Jet-setting Andy Burnham racks up enough taxpayer-funded flights to nearly circle globe in first 115 days
Andy Burnham has clocked up more than 22,500 air miles on taxpayer-funded overseas flights in his first 115 days as Prime Minister, GB News can reveal.
Mr Burnham, whose jet has also flown around 1,000 miles within the UK, is close to being able to circle the world after touching down in Dublin for today's European Political Community summit.
The Prime Minister flew to the Irish capital straight from Turkey following a whistle-stop visit to Antalya for the Cop31 summit.
He flew almost 4,000 miles in just over 24 hours to deliver a 764-word speech, which averages out at five miles per word and 666 miles a minute.
Mr Burnham, the only G7 leader to attend the climate summit, spent just 14 hours on Turkish soil before jetting straight to Dublin.
The Prime Minister used his speech to declare the "climate crisis is not a distant threat", adding: "We're committed to meeting our 2050 net zero target and committed to working with all of our partners to reach theirs."
However, Mr Burnham's taxpayer-funded jet is estimated to have pumped out around 300 tonnes of CO2 since he took office.
The figure, based on the jet burning around 2,200kg of fuel an hour and each kilogram releasing just over three kilograms of CO2, is around 70 times the 4.53 tonnes the average Briton produces in a year.
Shadow Minister Neil O'Brien told GB News: "We are all having to pay massive taxes on our energy and fuel bills so that this Government can posture, but when it comes to them, the rules seem to be completely different.
"Loads of taxpayers' money and jet fuel is going up in smoke so that he can deliver a speech of a minute or two to a half-empty room in the hopes of striking some sort of green pose."
Reform UK's Chief Whip Lee Anderson added: "G7 leaders have kept away from this virtue-signalling event which highlights what hypocrites like Burnham really are.
"Just like Miliband, he's flying around the world, polluting the atmosphere whilst telling us all to reduce our carbon emissions.
"Net zero madness is killing our economy right before our eyes, and Burnham doesn't have the backbone to admit it."
John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, also told The People's Channel: “It's rank hypocrisy for politicians to lecture the public about climate change while jetting around the world at taxpayers' expense.
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“Ministers must explain why this trip was necessary and ensure taxpayers aren't footing the bill for little more than a photo opportunity.”
The Prime Minister’s allies suggested Mr Burnham wanted to spend more of his time in the UK when he entered No10 in July.
Before taking office, the Makerfield MP called for a relentless focus on domestic issues, declaring: "Let's fix our own country."
However, Sir Keir Starmer warned it was not possible to spend less time on diplomacy.
Mr Burnham, who jetted off on holiday just weeks after entering No10, made his first trip abroad as Prime Minister in August.
He travelled to Kyiv for Ukraine's Independence Day, racking up around 1,900 miles on the round trip.
The Prime Minister then boarded his plane at Stansted for the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, clocking up almost 6,900 miles.
A flight to Berlin followed in October for his first official visit to Germany, adding around 1,200 miles.
The longest trip of his premiership came this month, when he flew to Antigua for the Commonwealth summit.
The plane stopped in Canada to refuel on the way, with the journey totalling around 8,600 miles.
The jet began the trip by taking off from Stansted at around 6am without the Prime Minister on board before flying 165 miles to collect him in Manchester.
Mr Burnham has also come under fire for taking the VIP Airbus A321 from Stansted to Glasgow in July for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
The onwards flight to Manchester the following morning lasted just 38 minutes.
Mr Burnham's overseas tally is around double the 11,000 miles Boris Johnson flew abroad in his first 115 days in No10.
The overall figure is almost half of the 47,900 miles clocked up by Sir Keir over the same period.
However, Sir Keir's total was boosted by a trip to Samoa for the 2024 Commonwealth summit, a round trip of almost 20,000 miles on its own.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson's early months were dominated by short European hops to Berlin, Paris, Dublin, Luxembourg and Brussels.
The flights have also reignited a Labour hypocrisy row, with former Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously calling for a "crackdown" on Tory ministers using private jets.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner even labelled Liz Truss's A321 flight to Australia a "ridiculous waste of half a million pounds".
She later accused Rishi Sunak of "jetting around the country on taxpayers' money like an A-list celeb" after the then Prime Minister flew from Darlington to Blackpool.
Downing Street insisted Mr Burnham’s whistle-stop Cop31 trip was worthwhile.
Asked why he could not have addressed the summit by Zoom, a No10 spokeswoman said: "He is determined to lead from the front to tackle the climate crisis."
She added: “As I’ve said, the Prime Minister has been very clear that the climate crisis is no longer a distant threat and he feels that it’s extremely important to meet with other leaders and address to help address the key challenges posed by climate change.
“On the European Political Community meeting, as I set out, he will attend a number of meetings there, including on Ukraine, with the hope of making further progress towards a just and lasting peace there.”
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