Vip Airport Travel Amongst £14m Of Taxpayers’ Money Spent By Scottish Civil Servants

Public money was also spent on a luxurious £4,000 stay at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire. One visit alone noticed £1,605.07 spent by the Scottish Government for Ms Sturgeon at Dublin Airport in October 2021, on her way to Reykjavik, Iceland, to ship a speech on the Arctic Circle Assembly. In Kevin’s video comment part, many customers had sturdy opinions about when it’s okay to recline a seat. Meanwhile, £4.19 was spent on a replica of the Scottish Government’s 2014 independence prospectus, regardless of it being out there free on-line. We use your sign-up to offer content material in methods you’ve consented to and enhance our understanding of you.

The prices have been amongst greater than £14 million of spending by Scottish civil servants on credit cards, which also included nail polish, yoga courses and a driving concept check for a staff member. Civil servants additionally bought a number of copies of a book collection of Ms Sturgeon’s speeches with public funds. The Department of Defense is making waves in the Travel & Leasuire News world of leisure travel with American Forces Travel, a web-based platform managed by Morale, Welfare, and Recreation and supported by Priceline. As summer season unfurls its warm embrace, American Forces Travel presents thrilling options for household getaways. For a limited time, the platform is offering additional value-added products and services for select trip packages.

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A flight attendant who has travelled the world has shared a brilliant tip about how to keep away from upsetting different passengers whereas on a flight, as reclining your seat at the wrong time can lead to “upset” passengers or even a damaged nostril. Ms Sturgeon was criticised last month after it emerged that she had enjoyed a business class flight to London and stayed in a £515 hotel for her “farewell tour”, which included an appearance on Loose Women. The £9,898 of spending on airport companies for the previous First Minister, who was arrested in June as part of an unrelated investigation into SNP funds, had not previously been disclosed by civil servants. Charles and Camilla are also anticipated to travel to Kenya later in the autumn for their first major journey to the commonwealth since Charles grew to become King, selecting the African nation ahead of one of many 14 British realms for a serious tour. The return would be the first time the King has visited the nation in almost forty years, having last set foot on Kenyan soil in 1987.

A further £1,271.21 was spent on the Amsterdam Schiphol VIP service during a visit to Brussels in 2020, as properly as nearly £1000 on the same service throughout a visit to Germany in 2019. See today’s front and back pages, obtain the newspaper, order again issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. The purchases by the government are separate from the SNP’s spending, which is the subject of the Police Scotland investigation. Officials purchased six copies of Women Hold Up Half the Sky, a set of Ms Sturgeon’s speeches which has previously triggered controversy because of hyperlinks between the writer and the SNP government.

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“The cards usually are not for private expenditure and there are sturdy authorisation and regular auditing preparations are in place to monitor their use. The Scottish Government spent £1,271 on the VIP service for a trip to Brussels in February 2020 but previously claimed complete travel and subsistence prices of the trip have been simply £1,033.fifty one. Charles has determined towards publicly acknowledging his mother’s passing, instead choosing to mark the date privately at Balmoral in Scotland where she died aged 96. Palace officials said Charles would select to spend the anniversary “quietly and privately”, adding ”just as the late Queen did to mark her personal father’s passing”. The King is making ready for his first major Commonwealth go to as monarch later this autumn as he is expected to privately mark the anniversary of the Queen’s death. President Joe Biden on Tuesday stated that he plans to quickly visit Vietnam in an effort “to change our relationship,” with the Southeast Asian nation.

The Scottish authorities said it can not touch upon the former first minister’s travel arrangements for security reasons, but it normally publishes a spending log of all transactions over £500 on its website. The airport services are provided by a agency that promises to treat its purchasers “like royalty”. It presents to “whisk” customers via check-in and security, then to a VIP lounge and on to the awaiting flight. The overwhelming majority of things, nevertheless, included on an everyday basis purchases for civil servants working from house through the COVID lockdown, including pc displays.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe on Tuesday, Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeon’s successor, said it was “fair to ask questions” about the revelations. He mentioned he would ask John-Paul Marks, his top civil servant, to evaluation whether the “right procedures” over spending have been in place. Previous to that, he additionally visited the country nine years earlier in 1978 for President Jomo Kenyatta’s funeral, the year prior for a safari and in 1971 alongside Princess Anne. Since becoming King, Charles has so far visited Germany in March for a state banquet, in addition to a solo journey to Romania in June. CNN has requested the White House for details on Biden’s remarks previewing travel to Vietnam. Biden’s off-camera remarks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, come as his administration is in search of to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific area.

It comes as the 74-year-old is set to make his first official overseas Commonwealth visit alongside Queen Camilla since taking the throne, with plans in place for him to visit Kenya within the autumn. The East Africa journey will doubtless be emotional so quickly after the first anniversary, because the nation is the place the late Queen herself became monarch, with King George passing away during her official journey in 1952. “The cards usually are not for personal expenditure and there are sturdy authorisation and regular auditing preparations are in place to observe their use. JANE McDonald has left fans asking A LOT of questions about her new travel show after her newest picture. “Spending via digital purchasing cards is used to help authorities officials throughout their usual course of labor similar to on coaching, catering, room rent and one-off provides.

“I’ve gotten a name from the head of Vietnam, desperately wants to satisfy me after I go to the G20,” Biden said at the July occasion, according to a White House transcript. “He wants to elevate us to a major companion, together with Russia and China. What do you suppose that’s about? No, I’m not joking.” “The SNP should end the financial mismanagement that has plagued their authorities and begin delivering for Scotland.” A variety of books were additionally bought, together with six copies of a e-book of speeches by Ms Sturgeon and 21 copies of How To Run A Government So That Citizens Benefit And Taxpayers Don’t Go Crazy. But the procurement cards also purchased a employees member’s driving concept take a look at, China crockery for a meeting room, a £27 “residence disco” from eBay and £272 on “Wellington boots for inspections”. Jane has been posting pictures from her latest journey on her Instagram, and her most up-to-date image noticed her posing by a seaside.

Purchases by senior employees additionally included yoga classes, nail polish and £4,182 for hospitality and hotel accommodation on the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire in September 2019 for a Scottish Women and Girls in Sport occasion. A complete of £9,898 was spent on the previous first minister’s airport services, each within the UK and across Europe, between September 2019 and June final 12 months. Senior authorities workers are issued with credit-style playing cards to buy goods and companies with a worth of £5,000 per transaction. Responding to the 58,000 bank card purchases by civil servants, a Scottish Government spokesman stated the administration was “committed to delivering the best value for cash for taxpayers”. “The SNP is frittering away public money on frivolous purchases and VIP therapy while services are stretched to breaking level. During the solo tour, the then-Prince of Wales visited tea and low plants, famously spitting out a pattern of tea remarking it was “very bitter”, and toured a housing property as nicely as assembly the then-President Daniel Arap Moi.