It’s been revealed by the wife of a prominent government figure that chauffeur driven cars are being used to transport ministerial red boxes, while the ministers themselves are expected to travel on public transport.
The new Prime Minister David Cameron ordered that the vast majority of MPs would have to give up their official cars and drivers and take to the tube, train, or bus instead as part of the new government’s plan to slash public spending.
However the comments made by Sarah Vine, the wife of Education Secretary Michael Gove, in a newspaper column this week seem to suggest that the clamp down on the use of chauffeur driven cars by ministers is an illusion, as they are still being used to transport their official documents.
Writing in the newspaper column, Ms Vine says: “My husband is free to travel home by Tube, taxi, bicycle or carrier pigeon, but the RB (red box) must arrive in air-conditioned splendour, snug and secure in the back of a locked car”.
The government has reacted to this news by stating that ministers are allowed to transport their red boxes on public transport, although they are not permitted to read the documents while travelling on public transport for security and confidentiality reasons.
