The debate into Air Passenger Duty (APD) is to receive parliamentary time next week to allow MPs to voice their opinion.
Politicians will be able to raise questions into the tax on 1 November after MPs Henry Smith and Priti Patel won a half-day debate in the House of Commons. The parliamentary time, which included backing from cross-party MPs, has come after the shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle joined the industry in calling for a Treasury-led review into the impact of APD on the UK’s economy.
“This debate is an important opportunity for MPs to voice their concerns about an issue that greatly impacts upon ordinary families, inward investment and the wider UK economy as a whole. I know this is an issue of concern for my constituents and it’s time for the Government to listen to the people and carry-out a long overdue impact-assessment into APD,” said Smith, who is MP for Crawley.
Both developments come after the ‘A Fair Tax on Flying’ campaign, which has resulted in 97 MPs backing a motion for a review. Eagle said the campaign had “ensured no MP has escaped finding their inbox full of emails from constituents over recent weeks.”