Rishi Sunak planned to spend Christmas in California with his family until omicron cases began surging in the UK, The Telegraph can disclose.
The Chancellor had been hoping to take a week’s leave at the Santa Monica holiday home owned by his wife, Akshata Murthy, following several days of meetings with technology firms and investors in San Francisco last week.
But Mr Sunak dropped the holiday plan as the Government introduced new measures to tackle the spread of omicron, including legal requirements for mask-wearing and requirements for people to show vaccine passports or negative Covid-19 tests to enter some venues.
By the time the Chancellor boarded a flight to San Francisco on Tuesday, he had already booked a new return flight to take him back to London on Friday. On Thursday he cut short the trip again to fly back the same day, after UK businesses raised the alarm over the knock-on effect of a press conference held by Boris Johnson that urged people to reduce their social contacts.
Mr Sunak is now understood to be planning to spend Christmas in London, where he lives in the Chancellor’s official residence above No 10 Downing Street with his wife, the daughter of a billionaire Indian entrepreneur, and their two daughters.
He and Ms Murthy, both 41, met in California where they lived for a number of years. Their Santa Monica home is part of a shared property portfolio spanning Britain and the US.
Last week Downing Street faced questions over why the Chancellor’s trip was not on an official list of Government engagements for the week.
At the time the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I don’t know, I’d have to refer to [the] Treasury on that for when it was finalised but I believe, my understanding is [it’s] a long-planned, long-standing trip.”
A Treasury spokesman added: “The Chancellor is in the US on a long-planned trip conducting government business. He is in constant contact with staff back home and will be speaking to UK hospitality businesses … to hear their concerns.”
A source insisted that there was “no question” of Mr Sunak remaining in the US after the Government decided to introduce a Plan B of Covid restrictions, 11 days ago.
