Oral Answers to Questions

Greg Smith Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Greg Smith (Mid Buckinghamshire) (Con)]

I add my birthday wishes to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).

Significantly muddled messages are being sent to the aviation sector. On the one hand, the Climate Change Committee, upon whose altar the Government appear to worship, wants flights to fall by 2030, which is a massive blow to our aviation sector, while the Government equally say that they want growth and that they want to expand airports. Who is going to win? Will Ministers stand up to the Climate Change Committee or are we just going to end up with bigger, emptier airports?

[Mike Kane]

The Climate Change Committee advises; we decide. We are not going to take any lectures on tough decisions. I remember when the former Member for Uxbridge was Foreign Secretary in 2018, he concocted a trip to Kabul to avoid a debate on expansion plans for Heathrow. We are getting on with growing aviation in this country.

[Greg Smith]

If it is tough decisions the Minister wants, I invite him to look at what happened in the Budget of broken promises. Air passenger duty went up significantly. For example, a couple flying to New York will pay £204 in tax. That is a 16% increase. Does the Minister not see that he needs to stand up to the Treasury if he is going to stand up for the aviation sector? Otherwise he is doing what socialists always do: tax growth out of existence.

[Mike Kane]

I enjoy the hon. Member trying to polarise the Chamber. He is sort of all right at it, but we are getting on with decisions around Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and growing the aviation sector. Yes, tax is an important element, but in the past two months we have seen the biggest demand ever—even before the pandemic—in people wanting to fly. That is a testament to the work we are doing in Government to get on with the decisions that should have been taken years ago.