Revealed, theS1 £40,000 cost of Sturgeon’s US vanity trip
NICOLA Sturgeon’s controversial five-day trip to the US cost taxpayers more than £40,000, the Mail can reveal.
New figures show the First Minister ran up a massive bill on the transatlantic junket, accompanied by two close advisers.
The flights for Miss Sturgeon alone cost more than £7,000 – while a car used by the group cost nearly £7,500.
There was also a bill of more than £2,000 for ‘subsistence’ for the trip, which Miss Sturgeon was accused of using to promote independence at taxpayers’ expense.
Last night, Scottish Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon used her trip to the US to re-announce investment plans that had already been made, to bang the drum for her unwanted independence referendum, and to get a selfie with Hillary Clinton. For this, the taxpayer has stumped up more than £40,000.
‘Most people will be astonished at this kind of spending. The SNP spends most of its time in government complaining about UK spending cuts – yet sees nothing wrong in spending thousands of pounds on the First Minister’s vanity trip.’
The figures, obtained under freedom of information laws, show Miss Sturgeon’s ‘total flights costs’ were £7,053.95
Her accommodation cost £1,426.03, while the cost of flights for her special advisers, Liz Lloyd and Katy Bowman, was £15,502.13. Accommodation for the two aides cost £7,145.45, while the ‘subsistence’ bill for the trio was £2,045.85 and the ‘group car’ cost £7,494.73.
Miss Sturgeon and her advisers travelled to California and New York but online searches show cheap economy flights from London Heathrow to Los Angeles from only £450 for a return ticket.
Similarly, economy flights between Los Angeles and New York can cost as little as £280, according to online searches by the Mail.
The total cost for Miss Sturgeon’s trip was £40,668.14.
A request for further detail on the breakdown of costs incurred was rejected because ministers ‘intend to publish that information within 12 weeks of the date of your request’.
The response said: ‘We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release this routinely published information before the planned publication date.’
The Scottish Government has been criticised previously for failing to publish full information on the cost of overseas trips. Alex Salmond spent nearly £6,000 of taxpayers’ money staying in a luxury hotel in New York with his wife Moira for the 2014 Scotland Week celebrations.
The latest trip, during the Easter recess this year, was criticised as a waste of time and taxpayers’ money as concern grew over the SNP’s disaster-prone domestic record.
Miss Sturgeon was also accused of covering up meetings with Wall Street financial giants, after it emerged she had held secret talks with BlackRock and Morgan Stanley. She failed to disclose these, despite admitting to similar ‘private talks’ with Apple chief executive Tim Cook and bosses at technology firm Tesla.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister’s visit to America helped to build on existing links between the countries and promote trade, investment and tourism, share best practice across the public and private sector and promote Scottish innovation and entrepreneurship.’
‘Most people will be astonished’