Air tax to be debated in parliament next week
MPs have won the right for a debate air passenger duty in the House of Commons next week.
Henry Smith and Priti Patel, backed by a cross-party group of MPs, have been given a half-day debate on Thursday, November 1.
They will be calling for the Treasury to commission a study into the full economic impact of air passenger duty in the UK and call on the Government to freeze the tax in the meantime.
They will ask the Government to reform APD so that it is "internationally competitive" and supports economic growth, investment and jobs.
Henry Smith, MP for Crawley, said: "This debate is an important opportunity for MPs to voice their concerns about an issue that greatly impacts upon ordinary families, inward investment and the wider UK economy as a whole. I know this is an issue of concern for my constituents and it’s time for theGovernment to listen to the people and carry-out a long overdue impact-assessment into APD".
It comes 19 weeks into an initiative by campaign group A Fair Tax on Flying, encouraging travellers and businesses to contact MPs about current levels of APD.
The campaign has led to 200,000 emails from constituents to their local MPs, with Prime Minister David Cameron and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg receiving over 465 and 157 emails respectively.
ABTA head of public affairs Luke Pollard said: "This debate will be a chance for MPs to echo the concerns of nearly 300,000 people who have emailed to call for a review. It is time the Government listened and commissioned a review – they don’t have anything to lose and a lot of jobs across the economy to gain potentially."
The debate comes in the wake of growing parliamentary backing for a Treasury-led review into the economic impact of APD. So far, 97 MPs have added their names to a parliamentary motion which calls for a review, and which has won support from senior MPs, including Conservative 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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