From The Daily Sceptic

By Will Jones

Mayor accused of ‘preaching net zero from the comfort of his many plane journeys’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of “preaching Net Zero from the comfort of his many plane journeys” after racking up enough air miles to fly to the Moon and back in attending international climate summits and events abroad. The Telegraph has the story.

Analysis of the Mayor of London’s international travel expenses show that the architect of London’s ultra low emission zone (Ulez) expansion has flown more than 73,000 miles across the past eight years.

This equates to over 473,000 air miles when flying with a team of people, producing a total of 43.6 tonnes of carbon through 13 flights.

It is roughly the equivalent to flying 19 times around the Earth’s circumference at the equator – or just under one trip to the moon and back.

In total, his office purchased at least 70 seats on international flights – enough to fill up an ATR 72 aircraft (a type of carrier used for short-haul flights).

This included an entourage of eight accompanying Khan to New York last September as he represented C40 Cities as its co-chair at an international climate conference.

In total, data from 2023-24 reveals Sir Sadiq took 23 members of staff with him on four trips to events in New York and Rome and Paris – two of which were climate related.

Other flights from previous years include a trip to India and Pakistan in 2017 with seven members of staff, which cost nearly £21,000 and racked up over 66,000 air miles.

In 2016, he also made a trip to Canada and the USA with a team of seven, which cost over £32,000 and amounted to over 56,000 air miles. …

Sir Sadiq has historically opposed Heathrow’s proposed third runway, telling reporters in June 2023 that “we don’t want more flights”.

In January 2025, he said: “I remain opposed to a new runway at Heathrow Airport because of the severe impact it will have on noise, air pollution and meeting our climate-change targets.”

He added: “I’m simply not convinced that you can have hundreds of thousands of additional flights at Heathrow every year without a hugely damaging impact on our environment.”

In May 2023, when asked about private jets, he said: “Frequent air travellers should consider firstly whether a particular journey is needed at all and, if so, to take the lowest carbon options wherever possible.”

The Mayor has also repeatedly encouraged Londoners to “reduce carbon emissions to help save the planet”. …

Victoria Atkins, the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Anyone who lives, works or visits London knows how it has become one giant traffic jam under Sadiq Khan. In a textbook example of Left-wing hypocrisy, ‘Climate Khan’ is happy to close roads, drive up costs for drivers and waste our time in jams, while preaching Net Zero from the comfort of his many plane journeys.”

Worth reading in full.