Taxpayers footing £1400 bill for Edinburgh Lord Provost to watch Euro 2024 opener

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Lord Provost has bagged tickets to the country’s Euro 2024 opener against hosts Germany next month.Taxpayers will foot the £1400 bill to send Edinburgh council official Robert Aldridge to the match and glittering opening ceremony on June 14.

Aldridge has been invited by the mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, to be his guest to mark the 70th anniversary of the twinning agreement between the two cities, struck in 1954 in the wake of World War II.

A report to an Edinburgh Council committee, due to meet next week, recommends the Lord Provost’s attendance, despite a preceding item on the committee agenda outlining how air travel impacts the local authority’s carbon footprint.As part of council policy, officials and councillors travelling by air are required to consider alternative forms of travel less harmful to the planet.The report states: “As a part of planning for this visit, officers estimate that travelling by train would require a 15-hour journey with three transfers. “This option would incur a requirement for two additional overnight stays alongside accommodation and subsistence costs over and above an air travel equivalent. “On this basis, it is recommended air travel is appropriate for this visit as a means to ­minimise travel time and costs.”As the mayor of Munich is providing accommodation for the party of two – Aldridge and a council officer – the cost of the three-day trip is £1400.Glasgow Lord Provost ­Jacqueline McLaren, who was given tickets to the game, has donated hers to charity.

Aldridge said: “I’m very much looking forward to visiting our sister city of Munich and ­celebrating the 70th anniversary of our twinning arrangement, the oldest relationship of its kind.