John Swinney signed off minister’s economy US trip… then still flew business class
First Minister John Swinney flew business class to World Cup matches in the US despite knowing his sports minister had chosen economy travel to keep costs down, official emails have revealed. The disclosure has prompted accusations from opposition politicians that Swinney failed to lead by example on public spending, despite having previously claimed he was seeking to minimise the cost of the trip.
Swinney travelled to Boston in June to watch Scotland's opening match against Haiti before continuing to Kentucky for engagements linked to US whisky tariffs, while Sports Minister Maree Todd attended the Brazil match in Miami. Government correspondence shows officials told Swinney that economy flights would reduce costs, and he approved Todd's trip on that basis, yet he and two senior aides still flew business class, costing £17,893, £17,893 and £9,864 respectively. Total flight costs for his delegation reached £57,441, compared with £5,485 for Todd's all-economy Miami trip, bringing the combined bill for both visits, including hotels and expenses, to £98,442. The Scottish Government said the visits supported trade, tourism and investment links and that cost had been considered.
- Swinney flew business class despite minister choosing economy to cut costs
- Combined US World Cup trip cost taxpayers nearly £100,000
- Tories accuse Swinney of ignoring cost-saving advice he approved for colleague
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John Swinney is Scotland's First Minister, the head of the Scottish Government. Newly released government emails show that when his sports minister, Maree Todd, chose to fly economy to a World Cup match in the US to save money, Swinney knew about and approved that decision, but then travelled business class himself on a separate US trip around the same tournament.
The trips involved Scottish ministers attending matches played by Scotland's national team in the United States, alongside other government business, such as talks linked to US tariffs on whisky. Because these trips are funded by taxpayers, how much they cost and how ministers choose to travel is a matter of public interest, particularly when a minister has previously said keeping costs down was a priority.
The story matters because it touches on questions of consistency and value for money in how public money is spent by senior government figures, and it has drawn criticism from politicians in other parties who scrutinise government spending decisions.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of Swinney would argue that senior government-to-government representation abroad often carries different practical requirements than a single ministerial sporting visit, including rest and readiness for back-to-back engagements such as the whisky tariff talks in Kentucky, and that officials, not the First Minister personally, manage day-to-day booking decisions. They would note that the trip's stated purpose, supporting trade, tourism and investment links, is a legitimate use of ministerial travel, and that questioning cost without weighing the potential economic value risks reducing serious diplomacy to a headline about ticket class.
The case against
Critics would argue that a leader who approves a subordinate's economy-only trip explicitly to save public money, then takes business class himself while officials were advised it would cost less, sends an unmistakable message about who is expected to make sacrifices and who is not. They would say that at a time of constrained public finances, the First Minister has a particular duty to model the restraint he asks of others, and that the scale of the gap, tens of thousands of pounds across a delegation of three, is not easily explained away by scheduling or seniority, making it fair to question his earlier assurances that cost had been minimised.
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