A classic example, one feels, of how to make a story where none should ever exist.
Should George Osbourne be allowed to travel in First Class, in order to avoid sitting with everyone else / do some work / sleep?
Absolutely.
Should he try to do it for free, on the grounds that he’s the Chancellor of the Exchequer?
Absolutely not.
I’ve travelled in First Class: I can either buy a First Class ticket or pay the upgrade. In not paying – and worse yet, seemingly getting his aide to do the negotiating – he’s made a story that hands his opponents with some jucy material and gives his own PR people extra work to do.
Or, perhaps, it’s just that in order to climb the greasy pole you need to leave your common sense behind to lighten the load?