Liberal Democrats challenge Government hypocrisy over green travel

4.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 26th Jul 2007

Climate Change

The Government was today accused of ignoring its own advice on climate change after figures revealed a rise in the use of ministerial cars as well as cabinet ministers choosing to fly to Brussels rather than take the train. Figures for overseas travel by cabinet ministers show that only eight out of 29 trips to Brussels used Eurostar, with the rest involving flying. Twelve of those trips saw the RAF's No 32 squadron being used instead.

The taxpayer paid nearly £6m for ministers' car travel last year. It is time to bring these spiralling costs under control. The government must justify this massive increase in car use. The Waterloo Eurostar terminal is very close to the Houses of Parliament. It cannot be that difficult for ministers to find. Helping to tackle climate change appears to be something that the Cabinet believes is best left to other people