Alok Sharma: Tory MP and Cop26 president flew to 30 nations in the last seven months without isolating

Tory MP and Cop26 president has reportedly flown to 30 nations in the last seven months without isolating.

Alok Sharma MP has been widely condemned for his travels after it was revealed in the Daily Mail.

Mr Sharma also attracted criticism for failing to self-isolate after visits to red-list countries, most recently Bolivia and Brazil, by relying on rules exempting ministers from quarantine.

The former secretary of state for business remains in Brazil where he is meeting with state and business leaders in a bid to get them to commit to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Alok Sharma: Tory MP and Cop26 president flew to 30 nations in the last seven months without isolating

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said the "optics" of reports of Alok Sharma flying to 30 nations in seven months are "it's one rule for them and another rule for us".

Asked on Sky News about the Government minister's flights abroad and lack of self-isolation, the Labour MP said: "Well, the optics are very clear - it's one rule for them and another rule for us, whether it's Dominic Cummings, whether it's Matt Hancock, whether it's Alok Sharma.

"Of course some international travel is required, but this amount of international travel when you're climate change minister feels to me bizarre, and feels to not be setting the example."

The Cop26 – the UN climate change conference – is set to be held in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12 this year.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said reports of Government minister Alok Sharma flying to 30 nations in seven months "undermines the effort" that people have to make.

Mr Drakeford told Sky News: "I'm afraid I do think it really undermines the effort that we know everybody has to make.

"We've all got used to having meetings with people in different parts of the world without needing to travel around the world to do it.

"And when we're trying to persuade people to make the changes they need to make, we need to make, in our daily lives, transport, in our own homes, in the way that we think about the contribution we can make, we need the people at the very top to be demonstrating that they are doing that too, not thinking that that is for other people to carry that burden."

Additional reporting by PA

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.