MPs have been urged to ‘unpack their suitcases’ after it emerged they ran up a £1.4million bill for overseas ‘fact-finding’ jaunts in a year.
Far-flung destinations visited by Commons committees included Barbados, Brazil and Tokyo.
Six MPs from the Scottish Affairs committee, with two staff, went on a week-long tour of San Francisco, Washington DC and New York in April that set the taxpayer back £77,000.
It was intended to feed into inquiries on the space sector, science and ‘intergovernmental relations’ – but no reports were published because the snap election was called.
Three politicians on the Justice Committee visited Singapore for a week as part of an inquiry into the workings of the County Court. Travel and other costs with two staff came to nearly £44,000.
The total £1,402,713 spending in the 2023-24 financial year – up from £919,550 in 2022-23 – was the highest for over a decade.
There is no suggestion that any rules were broken. But critics insisted politicians need to ‘rethink their priorities’ as Brits struggle with a cost of living crisis.
The details emerged amid a furious row about Labour ministers accepting freebies, with Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves among those facing a backlash for clothes, trips and tickets.
A full breakdown of committee activities was slipped out in Parliamentary Sessional Returns last week.
It shows:
- The Scottish Affairs Committee spent £77,000 on a week-log trip for eight people to San Francisco, Washington DC and New York in April.
- The International Development Committee sent four MPs to Barbados for six days in December, as part of a ‘small island states’ inquiry, costing nearly £26,000. There was another £25,000 trip to Dominica for four MPs and two staff in February;
- The Transport Committee spent nearly £83,000 on a seven-day trip for 11 people to Tokyo and Osaka, inquiring into strategic transport;
- The Foreign Affairs Committee took 10 people to Brasilia and Rio for five days for an inquiry into ‘multilateral relations’, at a cost of £68,000;
- The Home Affairs Committee sent 10 people to Singapore for a week in May on an inquiry into fraud, at a cost of £51,000. No report was published due to the election;
- The Justice Committee sent three MPs and two staff to Singapore for a week in March as part of inquiry into the County Court, costing nearly £44,000. Again the snap election meant no report was released.
Some of the bills for individual trips listed in the return will not feature in the annual spend total, as the dates of the Commons session did not match the financial year exactly.
The Defence and Foreign Affairs committees often have the highest costs for trips, due to their focus.
In 2023-24 they came to £150,978 and £149,132 respectively.
At the end of April the Foreign Affairs committee went to Brasilia and Rio to look into ‘international relations within the multilateral system’.
Eight MPs were on the five-day trip at a cost of £68,127, but no report was produced due to the election being called.
The Business and Trade Committee also saw significant spending, with a visit to South Korea investigating ‘export-led growth’ racking up £83,772.
A separate jaunt to Washington DC and New York in May was £89,320.
Committee insiders argued that visits must always be connected to an inquiry and the intention to produce a report.
Apart from Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Business, committees should ‘normally’ only make once visit beyond Europe per year.
Guidelines suggest that committees should check whether information can be obtained by written evidence or over video link instead.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Taxpayers are fed up of funding foreign jollies for MPs.
‘At a time when families across the country are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis, it’s outrageous that MPs are jetting off on costly overseas junkets.
‘Politicians should unpack their suitcases and rethink their priorities’
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