"THE First Minister's trip to Malawi last year cost the taxpayer £26,223, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act yesterday.
Of that total, £20,000 went on flights for Jack McConnell and his entourage of advisers and civil servants.
A total of £816 was spent on immunisations and healthcare preparations, including malaria tablets, and £290 went on gifts for Malawian dignitaries, including a bottle of whisky for president Bingu wa Mutharika."
The actual costs are revealed on the Executive website here. The costs are not particularly interesting, especially in comparison to Cherie Blair's hairdressing bill during last year's election campaign (here):
"CHERIE Blair chalked up a £7,700 hairdressing bill during last year's general election campaign, paid for by the Labour Party.
Her personal hairdresser kept her immaculately groomed during her husband's successful bid to lead the party to a historic third term at a cost of £275 a day for a month."
For me, the interesting point is why the First Minister needed to take six officials with him. A private secretary and a press officer, OK - particularly as there were 12 journalists (yes 12) on the trip (paid for by their parent organisations). But what were the other four officials there for?
And is it true that there were a lot more than six officials on the First Minister's recent trip to Melbourne?
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