Post by celticwitch on Jan 11, 2007 9:17:51 GMT
Being green 'should not cost more' Thursday January 11, 03:06 AM
Click to enlarge photo
Tougher "green" taxes on no-frills airlines will not hit the poor because few of them actually use the low-cost flights, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said.
The "vast majority" of those using airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet are well-paid workers or comfortably-off pensioners, Sir Menzies told Sky News.
Liberal Democrats would replace the current tax on air tickets with a tax on airlines - calculated according to each flight's greenhouse gas emissions - which they argue
ADVERTISEMENT
would encourage the use of less polluting planes.
Although the Lib Dems say the scheme would be revenue-neutral, critics say it would make flying more expensive for the poor by forcing no-frills airlines to increase the face price of a ticket.
But challenged that he would effectively be preventing the poor from flying, Sir Menzies told Sky News: "That's not true. I mean, the vast majority of people who use so-called cheap flights are people earning quite substantial sums of money - or people with quite substantial pensions.
"It's not the poor people in this country who take cheap flights, you can argue."
Sir Menzies' comments follow last week's row between Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary and aviation minister Ian Pearson, who accused the low-cost airline of being "the irresponsible face of capitalism".
And they come after Tony Blair was attacked by environmentalists for refusing to give up his own long-haul holiday flights - though he did agree to offset the carbon emissions for which he was responsible.
In the third of a series of Sky interviews with party leaders on their environmental policies, Sir Menzies was also challenged over his plan to increase duty on gas-guzzling 4X4s to as much as £2,000 a year, while making low-carbon cars tax-free.
Asked if the huge hike in vehicle excise duty on big cars was "an unfair tax burden", the Lib Dem leader replied: "I don't believe so, because there's no doubt whatsoever that motor car use has an enormous impact upon climate change."
Click to enlarge photo
Tougher "green" taxes on no-frills airlines will not hit the poor because few of them actually use the low-cost flights, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said.
The "vast majority" of those using airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet are well-paid workers or comfortably-off pensioners, Sir Menzies told Sky News.
Liberal Democrats would replace the current tax on air tickets with a tax on airlines - calculated according to each flight's greenhouse gas emissions - which they argue
ADVERTISEMENT
would encourage the use of less polluting planes.
Although the Lib Dems say the scheme would be revenue-neutral, critics say it would make flying more expensive for the poor by forcing no-frills airlines to increase the face price of a ticket.
But challenged that he would effectively be preventing the poor from flying, Sir Menzies told Sky News: "That's not true. I mean, the vast majority of people who use so-called cheap flights are people earning quite substantial sums of money - or people with quite substantial pensions.
"It's not the poor people in this country who take cheap flights, you can argue."
Sir Menzies' comments follow last week's row between Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary and aviation minister Ian Pearson, who accused the low-cost airline of being "the irresponsible face of capitalism".
And they come after Tony Blair was attacked by environmentalists for refusing to give up his own long-haul holiday flights - though he did agree to offset the carbon emissions for which he was responsible.
In the third of a series of Sky interviews with party leaders on their environmental policies, Sir Menzies was also challenged over his plan to increase duty on gas-guzzling 4X4s to as much as £2,000 a year, while making low-carbon cars tax-free.
Asked if the huge hike in vehicle excise duty on big cars was "an unfair tax burden", the Lib Dem leader replied: "I don't believe so, because there's no doubt whatsoever that motor car use has an enormous impact upon climate change."
