Painting Union Jack on PM’s plane will cost the taxpayer almost £1,000,000

Downing Street said the ‘Union Jack’ paint job would cost ‘around £900,000’ and help the plane better represent the UK with ‘national branding’.

Boris Johnson’s red, white and blue paint job for his military plane will cost almost £1 million, his spokesman has said.

The grey RAF Voyager jet is having a makeover at an airport in Cambridge, with one defence source reportedly saying the new design sounded like something ‘from Austin Powers’.

Downing Street said the ‘national branding’ would cost ‘around £900,000’ and help the plane better represent the UK around the world.

Opposition MPs have reacted furiously to the news, with acting Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey comparing the bill to the cost of drugs used to treat Covid-19 patients.

Sir Ed tweeted: ‘The drug dexamethasone, that can potentially save the lives of people with coronavirus, costs £5 per patient.

‘Boris Johnson could have bought 180,000 doses of that, but instead he’s painting a flag on a plane.’

Labour MP Emma Hardy said: ‘For goodness sake. Please can we have a grown up as a Prime Minister instead of a child.’

And her party colleague Justin Madders tweeted: ‘What’s he painting it with, gold leaf?’

But the PM’s official spokesman pointed out Mr Johnson was not the only who uses the jet.

He said: ‘The RAF Voyager used by the royal family and the Prime Minister is currently in Cambridgeshire for pre-planned repainting.

‘This will mean that the plane can better represent the UK around the world with national branding, similar to many other leaders’ planes, while also retaining its military air-to-air refuelling capability.’

The spokesman defended the £900,000 cost, telling reporters: ‘That incorporates the cost of creating a design that will promote the UK around the world without compromising the plane’s vital military role.

‘At every stage we have worked to ensure value for money for the UK taxpayer and all of the work has been undertaken in the UK, directly benefiting British suppliers.’

Mr Johnson has previously questioned why the plane is grey, saying he would like to have a ‘Brexit plane’ to help him travel the world and promote the Government’s vision of a global Britain.

He also complained in 2018 that the RAF Voyager jet, which is shared by the Prime Minister, senior Cabinet members and the royal family, ‘never seems to be available’.

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