David Cameron and senior ministers to get £10m private jet

Prime minister David Cameron and senior ministers will be given the use of their own plane for long-distance trips.

The government is due to announce next week that it will spend £10m to refit an RAF plane, which it insists will save taxpayers up to £775,000 a year on charter flights.

Nevertheless, the announcement is expected to face criticism ahead of Chancellor George Osborne’s spending review next week, which will see sweeping cuts across all departments.

A government spokesperson said: "As part of the government's defence review, we have been looking at ways to make better use of the RAF fleet to transport senior ministers and consequently deliver savings for taxpayers.

"We have decided to adapt one of our existing Voyager aircraft so that, in addition to its primary air tanking role, it can transport Ministers and it will also be available for the Royal family to use."

Eight years ago, the Labour Party scrapped Tony Blair's plans for ‘Blair Force One’, which involved buying two private jets at an estimated cost of £100m.

The Conservatives trashed the plan, saying it was the wrong time to be spending taxpayers’ money “on funding the government to travel in style”.