A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that James Cleverly, the then-home secretary, spent £655 per head on in-flight catering for a one-day trip to Rwanda. The total cost for catering during his 11-hour round-trip was £9,803.20.
Costly Flight to Sign Rwanda Deportation Deal
Cleverly’s trip on December 4, 2022, involved flying to Kigali to sign a deportation deal with Rishi Sunak after the supreme court ruled Rwanda was an “unsafe country.” He flew on a private jet, which cost £165,561, accompanied by 14 officials and a TV crew. While the TV crew paid for their own food, the in-flight catering for Cleverly and his team totaled £653.55 per person.
Government officials explained that the catering costs included not only food and drink but also the transportation of cooking equipment, which would have been charged on a regular commercial flight as well.
More Expensive Journeys
This wasn’t the only costly trip for Cleverly. During a visit to Japan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Zealand, and Indonesia in July 2023, he spent £22,324.50 on catering—around £1,488 per head—for his 14-person team. The entire trip cost £561,531.04.
David Cameron, Cleverly’s successor as foreign secretary, also had significant catering expenses. On a February 2024 trip to the Falkland Islands, Paraguay, Brazil, and New York, he spent £20,809 on in-flight meals for his 18-person team, averaging £1,095 per head. The total cost of those flights was £470,275.43.
In contrast, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his eight-person team spent £2,210, or £245 per person, on in-flight meals during a trip to the UAE in May 2022, where they attended the funeral of Sheikh Khalifa. The flight itself cost £125,949.
Labour’s Response to the Expenses
A Labour source criticized the costs associated with the Rwanda deportation scheme, stating: “We should never forget that despite spending £700 million on the Rwanda scheme—including James Cleverly’s flight to Kigali—the Tories didn’t stop one small boat or deport a single person.”
They added: “From the day the scheme was introduced to when it was scrapped, 84,000 people crossed the Channel, and the only individuals who ended up in Rwanda were four volunteers. The Tories delivered nothing for British taxpayers, but at least Cleverly got some nice in-flight meals.”
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