Politics

No 10 defends flight to Caribbean going via Manchester to pick up Burnham

Critics decry ‘Air Miles Andy’ after plane that took off from Stansted diverted to collect prime minister and wife A government-chartered plane taking Andy Burnham to a Commonwealth summit in the Caribbean made a stop-off in Manchester to collect him, Downing Street has said.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 2 sources•1 min read•Updated November 2, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

The trip sparked a backlash with some questioning the value for money, but No 10 says security, cost and "operational requirements" were all factored in.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 2 articles from 2 outlets