Rishi Sunak in heated radio clash over taking private jet to make net zero pledge
Rishi Sunak clashed with a BBC radio presenter over his decision to fly to Scotland in a private jet on Monday, 31 July, to announce the expansion of future oil and gas licensing rounds for the North Sea.
When pressed by Martin Geissler on Good Morning Scotland about how he was travelling to the announcement, the prime minister accused the presenter of thinking that “the answer to climate change is getting people to ban everything that they’re doing, to stop people flying.”
Sunak defended using a plane to travel to Scotland as being the “most efficient use of my time.”
When pressed by Martin Geissler on Good Morning Scotland about how he was travelling to the announcement, the prime minister accused the presenter of thinking that “the answer to climate change is getting people to ban everything that they’re doing, to stop people flying.”
Sunak defended using a plane to travel to Scotland as being the “most efficient use of my time.”
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00:00 Let me just ask you finally before you go, how are you getting up here to make this green announcement today? Private jet?
00:05 I'll be flying as I normally would and that is the most efficient use of my time.
00:10 But again I think actually that question brings to life a great debate here.
00:14 If you or others think that the answer to climate change is getting people to ban everything that they're doing to stop people flying,
00:20 to stop people going on holiday, I mean I think that's absolutely the wrong approach.
00:26 That's absolutely the wrong approach. Every Prime Minister before me has also used planes to travel around the United Kingdom
00:32 because it's an efficient use of time for the person running the country so I can keep focusing on delivering for people.
00:37 But if your approach to climate change is to say no one should go on holiday, no one should take on a plane,
00:41 I think you are completely and utterly wrong. That is absolutely not the approach to tackling climate change.