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Pampered Whitehall officials in just two departments blew more than £10million on thousands of luxury flights in one year, shock figures reveal.

The Ministry of Defence splashed £5.5million on 3,109 business class flights between January 2017 and the middle of March 2018.

And the Foreign Office spent nearly £4.6million of taxpayers’ cash on 2,473 seats in the luxury cabin, according to statistics uncovered by the Scottish National Party.

Business class flights usually includes extra legroom and free booze, as well as lie-flat seat-beds on some airlines.

The SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesman, MP Tommy Sheppard, said: “It’s time for the Tories to practice what they preach and tighten their own belts rather than spending taxpayers’ money like this – it can’t be luxury for them and austerity for the rest of us any longer.

“For a single department to spend £5.5 million on business class flights in the last year is staggering - never mind £10 million between two of them.

“The UK government needs to show it’s using public cash responsibly, not frittering it away on G&Ts and extra legroom for politicians and Whitehall mandarins on their travels.”

(Image: Newcastle Journal)

Defending spraying public money on luxury travel, the MoD said in a freedom of information response: “It is MoD policy that all staff should travel in economy class unless there are exceptional circumstances.

“In these cases, a business case is required to demonstrate that the circumstances warrant a higher class of travel, for example if an overnight flight is required with significant work upon arrival.

“We always expect our staff to demonstrate the highest standards of responsibility when incurring travel expenses.

“With defence interests around the world, there is an enduring requirement for personnel to travel to conduct essential business.

“We have a rigorous approvals process to ensure travel is undertaken in the most economical way possible and are making significant savings in travel costs."

(Image: PA)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “The FCO ensures value for money in all its expenditure.

“FCO staff travelling by air are expected to book the lowest fare available.

“FCO officials may only fly business class on flights of more than 10 hours or on flights of more than five hours in exceptional circumstances.”

The Mirror told in January how ministers and civil servants have notched up £74million of ­luxury travel at taxpayer expense in the four years between April 2013 and March 2017.