His comments come amid heightened scrutiny of travel’s environmental credentials owing to the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Prime minister Boris Johnson, who was roundly criticised for flying back to London from the summit, is reportedly preparing to return to Glasgow – by rail – to contribute to efforts to hammer out a deal to cut or limit carbon emissions.

Net zero emissions has been a widely cited target at Cop26, with an ultimate aim of limiting global warming to 1.5C.

Late on Tuesday (9 November), Johnson said it was time to "pull out all the stops". The conference will run until Friday (12 November).

Speaking to The Telegraph ahead of a draft statement on what the summit has achieved, expected on Wednesday, Shapps said: "I believe as transport secretary that we can get to guilt-free travel in this country.

"There’s been an idea allowed to percolate that somehow if we’re going to meet all these different carbon commitments we are going to need to get to the point where we all stay home, that travel is somehow something which attracts great guilt.

“It gets worse the further you travel, so flying is, of course, the ultimate evil as it’s presented, and that’s just not what we believe as the British government.”