TORY leadership hopeful Liz Truss spent £500,000 of taxpayers’ cash in just three months using private government jets, according to reports.
The bookies’ favourite to replace Boris Johnson racked up more than 100,000 miles on the official Government plane.
The Foreign Office had not published the cost of her flights until now and the latest data only include up to December 2021.
She has been accused of “frittering away” government money while the rest of the nation tightens their belts in the face of a devastating cost-of-living crisis.
Truss spent £300,000 on private jets during a trip to Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia between November 6-11, 2021, reports The Mirror.
Another £96,000 was spent on a plane to Saudi Arabia in October, with £105,000 going on flights to the Baltics and Sweden.
READ MORE: Westminster has never looked so 'out of touch' as final two PM hopefuls confirmed
A Truss ally told the paper on-board wifi on the planes meant she was able to work “more and harder” while on the move.
In her leadership pitch, Truss has pledged to pause the green energy levy and wants to cut a range of other taxes, likely to include fuel duty.
She has come in for particular criticism for taking a flight to the G20 summit in Indonesia as Boris Johnson’s government collapsed around him.
Instead of attending the meeting of global leaders, she stayed in the host country just long enough for the plane crew to take their mandatory rest time before turning back so the Foreign Secretary could attempt to rally the party around her doomed boss.
The summit was seen as an opportunity to challenge the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on his country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The Ministerial Code stipulates flights must be “efficient and cost-effective”.
Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: “It is staggering that Liz Truss is frittering away so much taxpayers’ cash flying around the world on private jets. It shows she is completely out of touch with families at home struggling to pay the bills.
“Truss really is no different to Boris Johnson, who she propped up until the bitter end. She is taking voters around the country for granted and showing it is one rule for her and another for the rest of us.
“Liz Truss should come clean about how much money she’s wasted on private jets since becoming Foreign Secretary. Given she wants to be our next prime minister, the public deserves to know.”
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