LONDON - A Prime Ministerial air fleet on the lines of the US Presidential Air Force One is all set to be launched, but Tony Blair could miss out on the flight as he could well be out of 10, Downing Street by then.
Media reports have dubbed the proposed fleet as Blair Force One, but Chancellor Gordon Brown is said to have flatly refused to fund the fleet till 2008 latest. It is proposed to include a long-haul jumbo in this Prime Ministerial fleet, but 2008 means that the fleet would not be operation until after the next General Elections, by which Blair has promised to step down.
In fact his own MPs are said to be quite unhappy with him and would like to have a transfer of power sometime next year. The Chancellor Gordon Brown is seen as Blair's natural successor, but Labour could go in for some youth since Brown is under fire for his economic policies.
It is reported that Sir Peter Gershon, the government's efficiency adviser has been asked to look into the matter of upgrading the Royal Flight fleet. This fleet is used by the British Royal Family as well as ministers in office to travel around the world whenever needed. The 32 Squadron consists of two 20-year-old BAe 146s and five smaller Hawker S125s.
Sir Peter is said to be leaning towards a 747 jumbo, a smaller short-haul plane and a helicopter, but Downing Street refused to comment on this one, “Sir Peter is sensibly consulting before presenting his report to Number 10 and ministers. We are not going to pre-empt that," a spokesman said.
Government figures released in July show that Mr. Blair's 21 foreign trips cost the exchequer £809,152.
Posted
on : Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:35 GMT | Politics News
By : Pippa Fielding
|
