A Scottish Greens minister has been accused of “hypocrisy” after making dozens of trips in a chauffeur-driven car from her home near Edinburgh.
Lorna Slater has made 50 trips by ministerial car over the past year despite pushing for more Scots to use public transport, reports the Scottish Daily Express.
In July 2022, Ms Slater was found to have racked up 600 miles in a nine-day period, while her longest trip of the year saw her trek 350 miles from near Edinburgh to a tree-planting project near Loch Ness.
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Her travel log was revealed by the Mail on Sunday, against the backdrop of the Scottish Government’s transport strategy seeking to cut car travel by a fifth.
These journeys included trips in and around Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with transport links readily available in both cities.
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: "Lorna Slater hires a boat rather than take a ferry and uses government limos rather than take public transport or even, perish the thought, get somewhere under her own steam.
"Ms Slater talks the talk but rather than walk the walk she would rather be chauffeur-driven. She is the Green queen of hypocrisy and Scotland is seeing through her double standards."
On a trip from the capital to Aberdeen, taxpayers paid for Ms Slater’s return rail ticket. Once in at the station, she was then picked up by a government limo and whisked to multiple venues in the city.
Rather than using the return ticket and travelling home by train, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity instead chose to be driven home towards Edinburgh in a ministerial car.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Travel is an essential part of Government business and Ministerial cars are used for business purposes only.
"Ministers take their responsibility to travel sustainably very seriously and aim to use more sustainable forms of transport wherever possible."
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