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Government shelves £40m contract for helicopter transport for Rishi Sunak (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/uk_politics@feddit.uk
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[–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

I think within reason yes. But if you can fit a meeting in Scotland plus a meeting on London in on the same day by air then why wouldn't you? Personally I want my PM to be working hard day and night not sitting in cars.

Of course if we had decent fast trains up and down and side to side for the country then it would be different. But we'll never have those 🤗.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    On Tuesday, Sunak used a helicopter for an engagement in Norwich, a trip of little more than 100 miles. In May, he flew to and from Southampton to visit a pharmacy for an NHS-related announcement, a 160-mile round trip where the train takes an hour and 15 minutes each way.

    We have decently fast trains to a lot of places, and he is taking the helicopter for journeys that wouldn't be that long on the train. Plus you can actually do some work while riding the train, which is difficult in a car and pretty impossible in a helicopter.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    That's a fair point. If he can take a fast train then cool. I'm not arguing for complete helicopter travel everywhere. Just that where it makes sense he should. Obviously where it doesn't he shouldn't. I don't think that's controversial.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    There's this amazing thing called Teams we've all learned to use over the last few years that means you don't have to be at a meeting physically anymore.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    I look forward to the G20 Zoom summit....

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    No one is advocating for him to travel by train and road across the world, just when it's reasonable to do so domestically.

    And if it's not worth the hassle it takes to get there, maybe it could be fine over the internet instead.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Maybe I misjudged the tone but it seems people are happy to travel large distances by plane helicopter only when those large distances are abroad. Why not when they are domestic too?

    I take your point about over the internet meetings but in the world of politics where human interaction is key i think it is worth the hassle to travel. That being said.... maybe I'll wake up in a world where G20 is done over Zoom. What a world....

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