By Mario Ledwith for the Daily Mail
For more than a year, Britons have had to miss seeing their loved ones abroad due to the Covid pandemic.
The ever-changing travel rules have also seen families lose out on thousands as holidays were cancelled.
Despite failing to implement a strict border policy when the pandemic unfolded last year, ministers have insisted that recent measures were vital to avoid spreading variants.
But at the same time, ministers were often jetting overseas themselves at the taxpayers’ expense.
Using an exemption afforded to crown servants, they did not have to quarantine on their return to the UK.
In a further twist, many flights taken by ministers involved discussions on climate change as the UK prepares to host the COP environmental conference. Here, we look at some of the trips taken by ministers:
The Foreign Office minister
Wendy Morton has excitedly documented her various trips abroad.
In June, she travelled to Turkey as the country stayed on the red list, ironically using the trip to talk about the importance of the country as a UK tourist hub.
Pictured: Wendy Morton during a visit to Turkey as it stayed on the red list. There, she visited the Hatay Archaeology Museum in Antakya
She met the country’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, Faruk Kaymakcı, for a face-to-face meeting without wearing a mask, pledging that the countries would work together on climate change.
On the three-day visit she was also afforded a visit to the Hatay Archaeology Museum in Antakya.
In April, when people were still unable to travel abroad, she flew to Greece for more diplomatic talks touching on the environment and visiting an ancient agora or meeting place.
Ex-Tory chairman
James Cleverly has been jetting across the world this year in his role as minister for the Middle East and north Africa.
While some of his trips touched on worthy subjects, such as terrorism, others have seemed less essential.
On a trip to Tunisia in June, just three weeks before
