House of Lords and APD

The British upper house, the House of Lords, essentially a revising chamber, has strongly criticised the UK Treasury regarding Air Passenger Duty (APD).

In a debate last week on the tax, peers were critical with many calling for a macro-economic review of the tax.  Lord Palmer, the Liberal peer who sponsored and opened the hour-long debate, said that a growing body of evidence pointed to the economic damage APD was having and noted that the “Government must take this grave situation into account”.

Lord Howell of Guildford, a former Conservative Transport Minister, was particularly outspoken: "This is Treasury obfuscation and short-termism at its worst”, he said, adding that "APD in its current inflated form is working against our friends, against our foreign policy goals and against the national interest".  Ten members of the House of Lords spoke during the debate, all of whom were critical of APD.  Many backed calls from "A Fair Tax on Flying" for a Treasury review. www.afairtaxonflying.org

Index/Home page
 

OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum