The dirty truth about jet-set Sadiq Khan’s green credentials: London Mayor and his team take enough flights to reach the moon

  • Sadiq Khan has been branded a hypocrite for campaigning on green issues
  • He has come under fire because his team have racked up 280,000 air miles 
  • Mr Khan's team's globetrotting has produced 180 tons of carbon dioxide

By Claire Ellicott Political Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Sadiq Khan has been branded a hypocrite for campaigning on green issues while he and his team have racked up enough air miles to reach the Moon since he became Mayor of London.

Mr Khan and his senior staff have travelled 280,000 miles around the world despite his warnings of a ‘climate emergency’ threatening the planet.

Their globetrotting has produced 180 tons of carbon dioxide – so much that it would reportedly take two-and-a-half acres of trees 34 years to cleanse it from the atmosphere.

Sadiq Khan has been branded a hypocrite for campaigning on green issues while he and his team have racked up enough air miles to reach the Moon since he became Mayor of London

Sadiq Khan has jetted off to a number of far-flung places around the world

Sadiq Khan has jetted off to a number of far-flung places around the world

It comes after actress Emma Thompson flew first class to New York on Friday, having flown from Los Angeles to London at Easter to join the Extinction Rebellion climate change protests that brought the capital to a standstill. 

At the time, she said: ‘We should all fly less.’

Mr Khan is keen to flaunt his credentials as a green campaigner, and met the eco protesters last week.

Last year, he declared a ‘climate emergency’ and vowed to step in if the Government failed to act.

The mayor insisted he and his aides were ‘doing everything in our power’ to slow climate change.

But records from City Hall reveal that he has travelled nearly 32,000 miles on official business outside the UK since entering office in 2016. 

It comes after actress Emma Thompson flew first class to New York on Friday, having flown from Los Angeles to London at Easter to join the Extinction Rebellion climate change protests that brought the capital to a standstill. She is pictured in a pink boat during the protest

It comes after actress Emma Thompson flew first class to New York on Friday, having flown from Los Angeles to London at Easter to join the Extinction Rebellion climate change protests that brought the capital to a standstill. She is pictured in a pink boat during the protest

Criticism of Sadiq Khan comes after he introduced his Ultra Low Emission Zone in London. The graphic shows the boundary of the zone

Criticism of Sadiq Khan comes after he introduced his Ultra Low Emission Zone in London. The graphic shows the boundary of the zone

He has taken trips to the US, India and Germany that were dismissed by critics as self-promoting tours to generate publicity.

National grid goes coal free for 100 hours

Britain set a record at the weekend as the National Grid went coal-free for 100 hours.

Coal now accounts for less 10 per cent of the country’s power output as more wind and solar energy is harnessed.

The UK has already had more than 1,000 coal-free hours this year, and should far exceed the 1,800 hours generated over the whole of 2018.

Ministers plan to phase out Britain’s last coal-fired power plants by 2025 to cut carbon emissions. A National Grid spokesman said: ‘We believe that by 2025 we will be able to operate Britain’s electricity system with zero carbon.’

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Mr Khan’s eight deputies have also embarked on lengthy foreign trips. Between them they have accumulated a total of 280,000 miles of travel abroad, mostly by aircraft.

Opponents accused Mr Khan of not living up to his green rhetoric. 

Susan Hall, a Tory member on the London Assembly, told The Sun: ‘Sadiq Khan goes to great lengths to brandish his green credentials, including cosying up to the Extinction Rebellion protesters and reassuring them that he is on their side.

‘While the mayor talks a good game when it comes to the environment, it is clear that his own actions fail to match his words.’

She claimed the environmental damage he and his elected deputies have caused ‘leaves the mayor open to the charge of rank hypocrisy’.

But a spokesman for Mr Khan said: ‘Trips abroad made by Sadiq and his team bang the drum for London, helping deliver prosperity, growth and jobs for the capital.

‘All London mayors have promoted the city overseas, including Boris Johnson, who in one three-month period made three long-haul visits, including twice to the US.’

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