Truss's Travel Expenses As Foreign Secretary Amount To 27 Times Raab's Bills - Reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2022) UK Prime Minister Liz Truss spent about 2 million Pounds ($2.21 million) on visits to other countries in her final six months as UK foreign secretary, which is almost 27 times what her predecessor Dominic Raab spent over the same period, The Guardian newspaper reported, citing new analysis by the Liberal Democrats party.

Even though Truss has urged the government to become more efficient, she spent a total of 1.8 million pounds on 20 trips in the first six months of 2022, while her predecessor Raab spent only 67,000 pounds during the same length of time, the newspaper reported.

Although some of Truss's trips in 2022 were relatively inexpensive, the then-foreign secretary spent over 450,000 pounds on her visit to Australia, about 230,000 pounds on her visit to Washington DC, and another 200,000 pounds on her tours to Rwanda and Turkey. In comparison, the foreign visits made by other ministers in the department cost much less. For example, UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon spent only 6,787 pounds on a ministerial visit to the US in 2022.

At the same time, Truss had previously called on the UK government to save money against the backdrop of the economic crisis facing the country. Last month, she told Sky news that "there are many areas where the government can become more efficient" in terms of spending, noting that the authorities are constantly reviewing expenses to obtain "good value for money," as this is what "taxpayers expect."

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said that all the traveling abroad was necessary to pursue the national interest, adding that each trip's expenses are incurred by the whole delegation accompanying the foreign secretary.