Jeremy Hunt flying to Manchester for party conference? Well, that’s just plane silly....

Our train-dodging chancellor is not the first high-flyer to come under fire for choosing not to slum it on our creaking public transport, says Sean O’Grady. Was it a calculated move ahead of HS2’s cancellation?

Chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt flew from Heathrow to Manchester (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

You can’t say you’re surprised that Jeremy Hunt took a plane to get to the Conservative Party Conference. It’s quicker, after all – especially if you’ve got a Range Rover with police escort whisking you to and from the airports.

And the chancellor is a busy man. Time is money. Arriving at a Manchester Piccadilly station, he might have been given what they call “a hostile reception”. He might have been given some funny looks on the train. Public clashes over the HS2 decision (it’s dead) is too painful to bear. A lot of hassle.

Still, it is a little disappointing. To be fair to Hunt, he went on a chartered flight rather than a private jet with gold fittings in the bathroom suite. Who knows, the economy class fare on BA1372 might have been lower than an open return on Trainline. He also saved about 90 minutes of chancellorial time, worth a few hundred quid, albeit he’s technically on party business.