UK PM Cameron Frittered Away £100,000 for Saudi King Funeral

Some people say spending large sums for luxurious trips is ok for politicians. Others argue that officials have to be modest. But £100,000 for a trip is a way too much… Even for a head of the British government.

A fresh release by the Cabinet Office shows what a pretty penny cost the UK’s taxpayers overseas trips of the Prime Minister David Cameron in the period from July 2014 to March 2015.

For example, a trip to Brussels to attend European Council meetings cost £500 on average. Trips as far as to other continents, like to US or Australia, were charged a bit over £10,000.

But look at the figures, which go under description “To pay condolences following death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz”. The Prime Minister used a charter airline and his 1-day stay is valued at £101,792.

The £100,000 it cost to send Cameron to Saudi Arabia to pay respects to dead dictator/king is equal to 51yrs of basic tax credit of £1960

— Andrew Spooner (@andrewspoooner) October 24, 2015

The enormous sum spent for a mourning attracted attention of British rights groups trip immediately after the publication. They expressed anger as Saudi Arabia is repeatedly listed among worst rights-abusing countries on the globe.

“This charter flight was for a group involving the prime minister, Downing Street officials, the royal household and protection officers,” commented a Cameron spokesperson without going further into details.

UK PM David Cameron backed Saudi Arabia to UNHR who later beheaded 5 foreigners and hung their corpses from crane pic.twitter.com/FJF1fttgz9

— Glen Harvey DOP (@glenharveyjones) October 15, 2015