Security minister defends Sunak and Cameron taking private jet to Cop28

UK security minister defends Sunak and Cameron taking private jet to Cop28Credit: Good Morning Britain, ITV

Transcript

00:00 COP28 gets underway in Dubai today.

00:03 The Prime Minister has been accused of rowing back

00:07 on green pledges and is travelling by private jet

00:12 to COP28.

00:14 The King also on a separate private jet,

00:17 and Lord Cameron, Foreign Secretary,

00:19 on a separate private jet.

00:21 What is your view on this?

00:24 Look, I think it's really important

00:26 that we work together with international partners

00:28 to deliver some really important commitments.

00:31 And the UK is already leading in the decarbonisation

00:35 of our economy.

00:36 We've gone further and faster than almost every--

00:38 I think within every comparable economy

00:41 and faster than almost every economy.

00:43 And that's a really important success.

00:45 And it's not just about making sure

00:47 we're fighting climate change, which is hugely important,

00:49 but it's also about making sure that our economy is

00:52 more resilient.

00:52 Look, my job as the Security Minister

00:54 is to keep the British people safe.

00:56 And as Security Minister, would you

00:59 argue that they're on separate private jets for security

01:02 reasons?

01:03 Or do you understand-- because you haven't actually

01:06 answered that question--

01:07 do you understand that it looks very bad?

01:10 Look, there are many reasons why travel might be separate.

01:13 And it would be unusual, to put it politely,

01:16 for very senior members of government

01:17 to travel on the same aircraft for exactly the reason

01:19 that you suggest.

01:20 But they could go on commercial flights, though, couldn't they?

01:22 Look, I'm not going to get into the travel arrangements

01:25 of the Prime Minister and His Majesty the King,

01:27 because that will be decided by Buckingham Palace and Number

01:31 10.

01:31 But there are very often reasons why

01:33 they can't travel on commercial.

01:35 And I'm sure that the costs and the implications

01:40 will have been considered very carefully.