Frequent Flyer Airmiles Schemes

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Duncan of Springbank]

It is not the policy of the Government to intervene in these commercial decisions. It is also important to recognise that this is a regressive step in many respects.

[Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Lab)]

Is it not the Government’s responsibility to ensure that anybody going on a flight should know what damage is being done to the environment as a consequence of that flight? Is it not time that each individual should have on their ticket or in the email sent to them the amount of carbon that they will be using on that flight? Is it not right that we should have an international scheme whereby the more that people fly, which is recorded on their carbon footprint, the greater the contribution they should make towards the cost of the flight and towards putting the environment right by a tax that increases with more flying?

[Lord Duncan of Springbank]

To be very clear, our air passenger duty is a tax commonly passed on to passengers: the more you fly, the more you pay. Additionally, this should be addressed at international level, as the noble Lord said. I am not averse to the notion of people being more fully aware of what they are participating in, and I will examine that more carefully.