Report: Johnson Under Pressure after Departing COP26 on Private Jet
London — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly flew out of the COP26 climate summit in Scotland on a private jet to attend a dinner with former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore.
The Daily Mirror says the prime minister left the conference in Glasgow at 6:20 pm and arrived at London Stansted at 7:16 pm, before heading to the private men's-only Garrick Club for a dinner for former Telegraph journalists.
The fashion of Johnson's exit was criticized as "staggering hypocrisy" by opposition Labour party chairperson Anneliese Dodds, after the prime minister opened the summit by imploring delegates to stop "quilting the Earth in an invisible and suffocating blanket of CO2 [carbon dioxide]."
Dodds said: "This is staggering hypocrisy from the prime minister. After warning world leaders it's one minute to midnight to prevent climate catastrophe, Boris Johnson clocked off from COP26, jumped in his private jet and flew down to London for dinner at a gentleman's club with a self-confessed climate change sceptic.
"It seems that when it comes to taking action to tackle the climate crisis, there's one rule for the Conservatives and another rule for the rest of the world."
A Downing Street source said Johnson had always been due to leave Glasgow on Tuesday, as the element of the summit involving world leaders drew to a close.
Johnson's flight out of Glasgow was confirmed by the prime minister's official spokesperson on Monday.
Pressed on why the prime minister could not go by train for a journey within Britain, the spokesperson said it was important he was able to travel around the country while facing "significant time constraints."
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