MEPs claim £10m to go business class and you pay

Ignoring criticism

BRITISH taxpayers are pay- ing millions towards the extraordinary travel costs of MEPs and EU officials who demand business class flights, documents reveal.

They have racked up massive expenses bills in hotels and restaurants around the world.

Documents show that in only one year, MEPs submitted receipts for £10.4million on business class tickets – in spite of calls to limit their spending. Travel receipts show a further £1.2million was spent on business class tickets for staff. On average, the 751 MEPs spend £26,500 each on flights alone every year.

The culture of largesse allowed them to spend £1.2million on just two trips to tropical locations where they dined at luxury restaurants.

Revelations about the excessive spending within the European Parliament come amid calls for the UK to pay even more money into its coffers despite preparing to leave the EU. Chiefs of the EU body have ignored a wave of criticism and called for a huge increase in next year’s budget, which would involve the UK’s contribution for just 12 months jumping to £235million.

Now new figures reveal how the obligations will see British taxpayers spending millions so MEPs and their staff can travel across the world on costly tickets.

Forty-five MEPs ran up a £853,000 bill for an event at a five-star hotel in Fiji. During the three-day conference in 2015, they enjoyed poolside lunches with sea views at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.

In the same year, another 46 officials travelled to Panama City for a conference at a cost of £355,000, partly funded by the UK.

Despite the generous allowances already on offer, proposals for next year’s budget include provisions to further increase expenses limits for officials, but not MEPs.

As well as flying in business class, MEPs – who enjoy basic salaries of £69,000 – are allowed to take advantage of an array of other perks, such as first class train tickets and a fleet of drivers based at the parliament.

The politicians also receive £268-aday allowance just for showing up, and generous pension payments. Guidelines on how much MEPs can claim for flights do not include an upper limit and also allow them to bill the public for additional fees, such as if they fall foul of baggage rules.