Sir Lindsay Hoyle broke his silence yesterday to defend his lush travel costs – then supported the right for newspapers to call politicians to account.
The speaker of the Commons justified the record law he collected by maintaining that part of his task is to be an 'ambassador' both 'at home and abroad'.
It is the first time that Sir Lindsay has spoken about the problem, because a series of revelations in the Daily Mail, which it is said to have stabbed the speaker personally.
Earlier this month we revealed how he had played more than £ 250,000 in just over two years out of 19 foreign trips.
He collected a bill of more than £ 180,000 on first and business class airline tickets only because he refuses to fly economics, with thousands more spent on drivers driven cars, stays in luxury five -star resorts and eating out in top restaurants.
Speaking at the Society of Editors 'Media Freedom Conference in London yesterday, he referred to the Daily Mail reports, but said:' Part of my task is to perform as an ambassador for the Lower House, both at home and abroad. '
He insisted that speakers had been representing the house on the international stage for many decades. “
Handout photo of Sir Lindsay Hoyle, chairman of the Lower House, provides the keynote address at the Society of Editors Media Freedom Conference 2025, in Central London. Date of Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Sir Lindsay Hoyle broke his silence yesterday to defend his lush travel costs
Taxpayers paid the bill of Hoyle in the St Regis Hotel in Qatar – in total more than £ 800
He said that in August 1944 former speaker Douglas Clifton Brown traveled to Normandy to visit the British troops and that Betty Boothroyd spent a large part of the parliamentary recesses to keep speeches abroad.
However, critics have said that the size of his bol-trotting is 'excessive' and that his task is largely to 'sit in a chair and to remain silent' while foreseeing commons debates.
As a speaker and MP for Chorley in Lancashire, Sir Lindsay receives a payment package of more than £ 160,000, as well as an ornamental and favorite flat in parliament.
The number of staff members who take Sir Lindsay abroad abroad has also been questioned, after four last year with him to the G7 speaker conference in Verona, Italy, has traveled.
In his speech yesterday, Sir Lindsay also praised the role of the media to call politicians to account.
Hoyle also stayed in Chateau Laurier in Canada's capital Ottawa, where his room cost £ 893 per night
'Every day your reporters try to tease the truth, [to]Make sure that politicians, like me, do the right thing by our voters and the parliament.
“Even if we are sometimes in the sharp end, I will forever defend your right to freedom of expression and to do what you do, safe and without interference.”
