Labour’s favourite think tank The Resolution Foundation has hosted a panel event this morning on how to “fairly share the costs of decarbonising transport.” Translation: how to make taxpayers cough up for gratuitous green projects…
Senior Labour MP and recently elected chairman of the Transport Select Committee Ruth Cadbury praised the think tank’s new report on travel, which calls for tax hikes on car travel and a massive expansion of carbon pricing on flights. The former shadow minister managed to blame the aviation sector for her husband getting cheap business class tickets:
“The other thing I always thought about was loyalty schemes. It cost my husband £25 for a business class return to Lisbon a couple of weeks ago because he’d built up enough Avios points, and he’s not even what I would call a frequent flyer. There’s further private sector disincentives and of course if you get paid for your flight by your employer, you personally gain the loyalty points which you can then use for you and your family to go to an nice holiday down the Maldives while it’s still above water.”
God forbid an average family gets cheap flights for a holiday. The Resolution Foundation is clear that “prices will need to rise” on plane travel to “make sure flyers pay their way.” Easy for Labour to say when the entire Cabinet’s jetting around on the taxpayer’s dime…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”