https://www.bbc.

com/news/uk-politics-64225730
Rishi Sunak's use of jet for hospital trip defended by No 10
Downing Street has defended Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's use of a jet to visit a hospital as
"appropriate" given his busy schedule. His spokesman said flying to Leeds when visiting a healthcare
centre was the "most effective use of his time". But critics say Mr Sunak's choice of taxpayer-funded
transport clashes with his pledges to curb climate change. The 200-mile (321-km) trip from London to
Leeds would have taken about two-and-a-quarter hours by train. Mr Sunak was pictured boarding an
RAF plane on Monday morning ahead of his visit to Rutland Healthcare Centre to meet patients and
carers, as the NHS is gripped by a winter crisis. There were no train strikes on Monday, meaning
services were running as normal after a wave of walkouts across the sector last week and in
December. On Tuesday, passengers travelling from London to Leeds could buy a return train ticket in
standard class for about £100.Labour mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said Mr Sunak's decision
to take a jet instead of a train was "a damning verdict on our public transport network" in northern
England. Airlines miss all but one climate target - report what’s the climate impact of private jets?
Should we give up flying for the sake of the climate? In his speech at the COP27 climate summit last
year, Mr Sunak said it was "morally right to honour" the UK's promises on reducing carbon
emissions .The UK has set a legally binding target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as
part of the global effort to avert the worst effects of climate change. Air travel accounts for 22% of
the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions from transport, and 7% of the UK's total emissions overall.
Green MP Caroline Lucas said the prime minister's use of a plane incurred an "unacceptable cost to
both the taxpayer and the climate". "It is utterly indefensible for Tory ministers to make such short
journeys by jet when far cheaper and much less damaging options are readily available," she said.
"This out of touch prime minister has his head in the clouds yet again."

What could the emissions have been?

The prime minister was picture boarding one of the RAF's Dassault Falcon 900LX aircraft. That plane
is cited as having fuel consumption of about 260 gallons per hour (consumption figures are generally
given in US gallons), according to several aviation websites. The journey from London to Leeds
yesterday took 36 minutes, while the flight back was 37 minutes - according to a flight tracking
website. That's a total of one hour and 13 minutes, which means approximate fuel consumption of
316 gallons or about 1200 litres. From the government's conversion factors, that would mean
emissions of about three tonnes of CO2.We don't know how many people travelled to Leeds with Mr
Sunak. The plane may be laid out to have 14 seats, which would mean 214kg per person for the
return journey if it had been full .The LNER website gives emissions for a return train trip from
London to Leeds of 24kg per person. BBC News asked No 10 whether Mr Sunak offset the emissions
from the flight but it would not comment on this. In a tweet, SNP MP Tommy Sheppard said Mr
Sunak's use of a plane made "a mockery of his climate pledges". Labour's deputy leader, Angela
Rayner, said households struggling with living costs would be "rightly angered by this show of
extravagance by Rishi Sunak". The Labour MP urged the prime minister to "come clean about how
much taxpayers' money was wasted on this 36-minute plane journey for a three-hour visit at the
height of a cost-of-living crisis». But defending the prime minister, his official spokesman said he used
different modes of transport, "enabling him to get around the entirety of the UK when there's a great
deal of pressure on his time». «It will vary on what is the most appropriate use," the spokesman said.
Last year, Mr Sunak was branded "out of touch" after a newspaper report said he had paid more than
£10,000 to fly by private helicopter to a Tory dinner in Wales. Some of Mr Sunak's recent
predecessors - including Boris Johnson and David Cameron - also came under scrutiny for using
domestic flights. Mr Johnson was criticised for using planes to travel back from the COP26 climate
summit in Glasgow in 2021, and a weekend away with his family in Cornwall in 2022.
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/epstein-settlement-with-giuffre-be-made-public-affects-prince-
andrew-case-2021-12-29/

NEW YORK, Dec 29 (Reuters) - A 2009 settlement agreement between the late financier Jeffrey
Epstein and Virginia Giuffre, which bears directly on Giuffre's civil lawsuit accusing Britain's Prince
Andrew of sexual abuse, will be made public early next week. In a joint order on Wednesday, U.S.
District Judges Lewis Kaplan and Loretta Preska in Manhattan ordered the agreement's release on or
about Jan. 3, 2022, finding no reason to keep it under seal. Kaplan oversees Giuffre's lawsuit accusing
Andrew of forcing her to have sex more than two decades ago when she was under 18 at the London
home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and abusing her at two of Epstein's homes.
Andrew has denied Giuffre's claims. Preska oversees Giuffre's lawsuit accusing Harvard Law School
professor Alan Dershowitz of defaming her when he denied her claim that he was among the men
Epstein compelled her to have sex with. The prince's lawyer, Andrew Brettler, has contended that the
2009 settlement with Epstein released the Duke of York from liability from Giuffre's lawsuit because
it covered "royalty," and Epstein insisted it cover anyone Giuffre might sue. Lawyer David Boies
arrives with his client Virginia Giuffre for hearing in the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein, at
Federal Court in New York. Giuffre's lawyer, David Boies, countered that the settlement applied "at
most" to people involved in underlying litigation in Florida, where Epstein had a home, and that
Prince Andrew should not use it as a "get out of jail free card. "Andrew has not been charged with
crimes. Giuffre's civil lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Kaplan is scheduled on Jan. 4, 2022, to hear
oral arguments on whether to dismiss Giuffre's lawsuit against Andrew. In a filing on Tuesday,
Brettler called for the case to be halted or thrown out because Giuffre has long lived in Australia,
depriving the Manhattan court of jurisdiction, and cannot support her claim that she is a Colorado
resident. Sigrid McCawley, another lawyer for Giuffre, in a statement called that argument "another
in a series of tired attempts by Prince Andrew to duck and dodge the legal merits of the serious case
Virginia Giuffre has brought. "Epstein, a registered sex offender, killed himself in 2019 while awaiting
trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was found guilty by a U.S. jury on Wednesday of helping
Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
VIRGINIA’S LAWSUIT WITH PRINCE ANREW:
28 January

By Jean CARRIER

Virginia Giufre accused Prince Andrew of forcing her to have sex.

She accuses him of having done this in two of Epstein's homes and in one of his
associates' homes (in USA) 20 years ago when she was a minor. The prince has
denied the accusations. His lawyer Bretler has argued that Virginia has lived in
Australia for a long time, and that she cannot prove that she has lived in
Colorado. Furthermore, during the Epstein case, the Duke of York’s was all
deleted by an agreement made with Epstein. But Giufre's lawyer, David Boies,
said that this only applied to people concerned in a minor case involving one of
Epstein's houses and therefore the agreement does not work. One of the
arguments for the Prince's innocence is that he has a disease that prevents him
from sweating. In her testimony Virginia Giufre mentions Prince Andrew's
sweating. After a request from Mrs. Giufre's lawyers to show medical evidence
of this illness, Prince Andrew refused, saying that it was a matter of his privacy.
They eventually added that he had no such medical documentation, which is a
very different justification.