GETTY Foreign secretary Boris Johnson wants a plane to hunt for trade deals

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In an ambitious proposal to promote Theresa May’s "Global Britain" brand, the Foreign Secretary suggested that the Government should buy a dedicated ministerial plane for his diplomatic visits overseas. He thinks the official aircraft - possibly painted red, white and blue - will help project a confident and entrepreneurial spirit as the country finds a new role as a global free-trading nation no longer tied to Brussels. "If there's a way of doing it that is not exorbitantly expensive then yes, I think we probably do need something," he said. Floating the idea of a modestly-priced executive jet for the Foreign Office, he added: "The taxpayers won't want us to have some luxurious new plane, but I certainly think it's striking that we don't seem to have access to such a thing at the moment."

We are trying to project Global Britain and we are turning up on official visits on EasyJet. Boris Johnson

His suggestion follows frustration among ministers that he and other Cabinet colleagues are rarely given access to the RAF Voyager jet used by the Prime Minister for official foreign trips. The converted fuel tanker, nicknamed "Ther-easy Jet", is also available for use by members of the Royal Family and still takes on RAF refuelling duties, leaving it in great demand. For his five-day tour of South America this week, the Foreign Secretary took a long-haul commercial flight on Europa Air to Peru, travelling in business class. "What I will say about the Voyager, I think it's great, but it seems to be very difficult to get hold of," Mr Johnson told reporters travelling with him on the diplomatic tour. "It never seems to be available. I don't know who uses it, but it never seems to be available.”

GETTY Boris Johnson wants a jet to promote the Prime Minister Theresa May's Global Britain brand

He also complained that the Voyager’s grey fuselage did not create an eye-catching impression on overseas dignitaries when arriving for official visits. “Why does it have to be grey?" the Foreign Secretary asked. A request for a multi-million pound ministerial jet from the Foreign Office is unlikely to be welcomed by Chancellor Philip Hammond. Even the cheapest new executive jets start at around £3million while a Learjet 75, a mid-size jet popular with business executives that seats nine passengers, costs around £10million. Such aircraft can also cost millions of pounds annually for fuel and maintenance. For years, the Treasury blocked requests from Downing Street for an official prime ministerial plane. It was only when the cost of chartering aircraft for prime ministerial visits proved uneconomic that Mr Hammond's predecessor George Osborne gave the go-ahead to converting the RAF Voyager for prime ministerial travel at a cost of £10million. Mr Johnson insisted the Foreign Office was not extravagant with taxpayers’ cash. He pointed out that he and other ministers could request use of small aircraft from the No.32 (The Royal) Squadron, the RAF transport service for the Government and Royal Family known as the Queen’s Flight that operates the Prime Minister’s Voyager.

AFP/GETTY Theresa may, Boris Johnson and Michael Fallon getting off the jet

"We sweat the assets in the Foreign Office," the Foreign Secretary said. "We use the Queen’s Flight, but I think the planes are now 30 or 40 years old," he said. "They are superb BAe146s, they are masterpieces of engineering," he added. One Foreign Office insider sympathetic to the Brexit jet idea said: "Lots of foreign ministers in other countries have Government planes but we don't. "We are trying to project Global Britain and we are turning up on official visits on EasyJet. "The trouble with the Voyager is that no one apart from the Prime Minister and the Royals can use it." Ministerial access to aircraft from the Queen’s Flight has sparked Cabinet disputes in the past. Last year, it was reported that the Ministry of Defence banned Chancellor Philip Hammond from flying on the squadron’s A109 helicopters and BAe 146 jets in a row about unpaid bills.

GETTY Boris Johnson also backed calls for a new Royal Yacht Britannia

Under the last Labour government, the then chancellor Gordon Brown was reported to have repeatedly blocked requests from Number 10 for a dedicated prime ministerial plane out of spite for his rival Tony Blair. Mr Johnson has also previously backed calls for a new Royal Yacht Britannia that could sail the oceans to fly the flag for Global Britain and yesterday insisted he still supported that idea as well as the Brexit jet. "I think the arguments for Britannia are still pretty good," he said. Speaking in Buenos Aires in Argentina, Mr Johnson also said that while he plans to cheer the official Brexit date on March 29 next year, he was not in favour of the Government organising official celebrations to mark the departure from the EU.