Vote Blue, Fly Green?

Anyone remember the Conservatives' re-branding as an eco-friendly party?

It's funny how the memory plays tricks. The green focus seems to have been sidelined since the credit crunch arrived.

Anyone who can recall those heady "Vote Blue, Go Green" days may be surprised to see Tory MPs claiming for internal flights in the latest list of parliamentary allowances.

David Jones, a frontbench spokesman on Welsh affairs, claimed almost £1,300 in the last financial year for flights between his constituency (Clwyd West) and Westminster.

He argues that he let the plane take the strain because engineering works on the West coast main line made travelling by train on Sundays impossible for much of the time. He also points out that the air fare is sometimes less than the cost of a return on Virgin.

No news yet on the cost to the planet or whether David Cameron plans to plant a forest or two to offset all the carbon generated.

UPDATE: A reader (they do exist) alerts me to Mr Jones's own views on the eco-benefits of Welsh food: "They also know that it has been produced reasonably locally and is not contributing to excessive carbon emissions by being flown half way across the world."