James Cleverly, the former home secretary, has come under scrutiny for spending £653 per person on in-flight catering during a single-day visit to Rwanda, as reported by The Independent. The lavish expenditure was revealed through a freedom of information request, which detailed that Mr. Cleverly chartered a private jet for an 11-hour trip to Kigali in December 2023 to finalise a deportation deal with Rwandan authorities.
During the visit, Mr. Cleverly, accompanied by officials and a TV crew, signed a new treaty with Vincent Biruta, the foreign affairs minister of Kigali. The catering costs for the return flight alone amounted to £9,803.20 for Mr. Cleverly and his 14 officials, equating to £653.55 per person. Interestingly, the TV crew covered their own food expenses.
The total bill for the trip, including the extravagant in-flight catering, reached £165,561. The visit took place shortly after the supreme court had ruled Rwanda as an “unsafe country”, adding another layer of controversy to the already contentious trip.
It was later discovered that the catering expenses included the cost of transporting cooking equipment, a detail that raised eyebrows given that such costs are typically associated with scheduled commercial flights rather than chartered private jets. The Rwanda deportation deal eventually faced opposition and was overturned by the new Labour government shortly after assuming office.
Notably, Mr. Cleverly’s excessive spending on in-flight catering did not stop with the Rwanda trip. In a separate instance, he reportedly spent £22,324.50 on catering during a journey to multiple countries in July 2023. The trend of extravagant spending continued as David Cameron and Boris Johnson, his successors in government, also incurred significant catering bills during their official travels.
As questions arise about the justification for such lavish spending on in-flight catering, James Cleverly’s office has been requested to comment on the matter. However, the Home Office has declined to provide any response, leaving the public to ponder the appropriateness of such expenditures by government officials in the future.