Cameron in private jet jaunt

Published: Friday, 24 October 2008, 7:19AM

David Cameron was flown by private jet to Rupert Murdoch's luxury yacht for talks with the tycoon, it has emerged.

The Tory leader accepted the free flights to Greek island Santorini on August 16 where he joined Mr Murdoch for drinks on his 184ft yacht, Rosehearty.

Mr Cameron's wife Samantha and two of their children were on the jet, which belongs to Mr Murdoch's son-in-law Matthew Freud, when it left Farnborough for the Mediterranean.

The aircraft then stopped off in Istanbul to pick up the Tory leader, who was returning from a lightning visit to Georgia following the Russian invasion.

The Tories insisted Mr Cameron had done nothing wrong and that the flights had been "fully and properly" declared in the Register of Members' Interests.

Although Mr Cameron registered the flights last month, nothing had been made public about his visit to Mr Murdoch's yacht.

The disclosure will add fuel to the controversy surrounding shadow chancellor George Osborne's visit to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska on his yacht off Corfu.

Mr Osborne denied claims by the financier Nat Rothschild that he used the visit to try to solicit a £50,000 donation for Tory party funds, though he has admitted he was present when a possible donation by Mr Deripaska was discussed.

Following drinks on the Rosehearty, Mr Cameron and his family attended a dinner party hosted by Mr Freud on his yacht.

Afterwards the Camerons were flown on the Gulfstream to Dalaman in Turkey where they joined Mrs Cameron's family for a sailing holiday to mark the 60th birthday of her mother, Viscountess Astor.

Guests were said to include Mr Osborne, Mr Deripaska, and Peter Mandelson, then still the EU trade commissioner.

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