Flying

It is with a heavy heart that we return this week, reluctant as always, to the question of integrity.

Andy has been away. He’s been on his travels. And this wasn’t just a day trip. It was 65,000 miles around the globe.

Now, in itself, this is not a bad thing. Travel broadens the mind and Sutton Coldfield is of limited attraction in the gray half light of a West Midlands November. And Andy does have shadow responsibilities for Foreign Aid. So we look to be as sympathetic as we can be on the subject of travel.

But, sadly, we have seen an unseemly wrangle in the press over who actually is paying for Andy’s odyssey.

Actually, that’s not true. There has been no response at all from Young Lochinvar. No debate, no justification, zippo. The attitude is ‘Lets not go there!’ or at least ‘If we go there, lets not talk about it’.

The story, briefly, is that when Andy wants to get over to Rwanda, he calls up Tory benefactor Lord Ashcroft and says ‘Alright if I borrow the private jet?’. Ashcroft has a Falcon 900 and he is extremely generous with its use. No strings are attached to this, he just likes helping important people. And Andy.

There is, of course, no problem with the principle of using the thing. But Parliamentary Rules insist that you declare what you spend.

Nothing would please Nightwatchman more than to report that Andy has lodged every penny of the expense with the beak.

It wouldn’t be true. One can’t unbalance the totals with tens of thousands expended on private flights to Africa – better to declare flights at jumbo rate.

Once again, this is not a hanging offence – it’s a bit of a smoothy – its not what it seems.

But this is from the guy who received a Standing Ovation from the Tory Party Conference on the theme of ‘Openness and Accountability’. I kid you not.

Our MP wanted to know what is spent where in poor countries. Nightwatchman could sign on to that. Could we start with ‘How you got there?’

And that’s not all.

Andy grabbed the opportunity of photo op in the Sutton Observer last week.

The happy recipient of hearty handshake was the local representative of Friends of the Earth. Was he aware that the Private Jet carrying 3 passengers would generate a level of pollution 10x the quantity spent by any passenger in a jumbo.

I’m sure Andy was.



Nightwatchman