Labour chief David Lammy’s £25,000 freebie to Brazil… Courtesy of superstar actor Harrison Ford’s eco-charity
- It cost six times more than similar trips to Brazil by other MPs
- During his visit, Mr Lammy met Brazil’s Left-wing President Lula da Silva
A Labour frontbencher has been slated for a £25,000 jolly to Brazil paid for by a charity fronted by superstar Harrison Ford.
Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy accepted the freebie – equivalent to more than £6,000 per night – in August. It cost six times more than similar trips to Brazil by other MPs.
Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘In a cost of living crisis, that much money being spent seems a bit peculiar. He needs to explain that.
‘It is a very grand trip – he is looking a bit too grand even for the Foreign Office.’
During his four-night visit, Mr Lammy, 51, met Brazil’s Left-wing President Lula da Silva and travelled to the Amazon to speak about ‘green foreign policy’.
A Labour frontbencher has been slated for a £25,000 jolly to Brazil paid for by a charity fronted by superstar Harrison Ford. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy accepted the freebie – equivalent to more than £6,000 per night – in August. It cost six times more than similar trips to Brazil by other MPs
In 2019, Mr Lammy tweeted: ‘Go Harrison Ford’ when the actor spoke at a summit that pushed for Net Zero targets across the world. But Mr Ford has been called a hypocrite for his regular use of private jets
His trip was paid for by Conservation International, an American charity founded by a former adviser to Bill Clinton, with Mr Ford in a senior role on its board.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark star Mr Ford is vice-chairman of the charity, which has offices worldwide. In 2014, he narrated a film for the charity in which he declared ‘I am The Ocean’. It was part of a series with fellow Hollywood stars Julia Roberts as ‘Mother Nature’, Liam Neeson as ‘Ice’ and Edward Norton as ‘The Soil’.
In 2019, Mr Lammy tweeted: ‘Go Harrison Ford’ when the actor spoke at a summit that pushed for Net Zero targets across the world. But Mr Ford has been called a hypocrite for his regular use of private jets.
Mr Lammy declared his trip in MPs’ Register of Interests, although he appeared to downplay the celebrity link to the visit by putting the Rio de Janeiro branch of the giant charity as the event donor’s address. Conservation International is headquartered in Virginia, USA.
Meanwhile government sources said Mr Lammy has developed a reputation for openly ‘measuring the curtains’ every time he is in the Foreign Office.
As shadow foreign secretary he is one of the few Opposition politicians to receive briefings from Whitehall officials, and has been into the Foreign Office a number of times. One source with knowledge of the meetings said: ‘He is measuring the curtains every time he’s there.’
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly is preparing to fly to Brazil next Autumn for the G20 summit – if he is in post. If Labour win the election, Mr Lammy could be returning to the country in a government jet.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously defended Mr Lammy’s record as one of the party’s biggest outside earners, having gained more than £200,000 since 2019 on top of his MP’s salary.
During the August visit Mr Lammy spoke in favour of ‘climate justice’ and said a Labour government would allow Sir Keir to pursue radical climate action alongside Brazil’s President Lula da Silva
He said during the trip: ‘The global community has been missing the UK being serious about these issues for some time.’
He called for pausing deep-sea mining and said: ‘My foreign policy will be pursued as a green foreign policy’ adding: ‘Our commitment to the environment is central to the way we look at the world.’
Tottenham MP Mr Lammy said the trip’s cost included ‘flights, accommodation, food, transport, translator, life insurance and medical support’ to a total sum of £24,739 for him and a staff member.
He said the purposes of the visit were ‘bilateral meetings and a visit to the Amazon region’. In contrast, former leader Jeremy Corbyn went to Brazil last year for the same number of days to observe its presidential election – at a cost of £3,680.
This included flights, accommodation, a translator and transport for Mr Corbyn and his wife Laura Alvarez.
The visit was paid for by Left-wing charity Progressive International.
Conservation International was founded by Peter Seligmann, an environmentalist who was an advisor to Coca-Cola and was made a member of the Enterprise for the Americas Board by President Clinton.
The charity’s board includes actor Idris Elba and designer Stella McCartney. It raised £216million last year
Conservation International said Mr Lammy did not fly first-class.
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