Fair tax campaigners have dismissed comments by a Conservative Party activist that a policy change on Air Passenger Duty is unlikely because "it’s not on people’s minds".
Tim Montgomerie, editor of the influential Tory website ConservativeHome and a columnist for the Times, told the UKinbound conference earlier this week that the industry should not expect a shift in government thinking on APD because the coalition parties cannot agree.
"I don’t have good news on APD," he said. "When we survey MPs, party members, the public, APD is not one of the taxes on people’s minds. Freezing APD may be your most realistic hope. More than that is not on the agenda."
But Mary Rance, UKinbound chief executive and a spokesperson for A Fair Tax on Flying, said: "We do not share Tim Montgomerie’s pessimism about a lack of appetite within Parliament or the general public to reform APD.
"More than ever passengers, businesses and MPs themselves are making their opposition to APD known.
"This summer 200,000 people wrote to MPs calling for a Treasury impact-assessment of the tax. The Chancellor himself received over 400 emails and many MPs were contacted by over 1000 of their constituents, so this is an issue of great importance both nationally and in George Osborne’s Tatton constituency."
She said more than 100 MPs have now signed an Early Day Motion (174) calling for the tax to be reviewed.
"If anything, public and political awareness about APD is increasing, along with a willingness to question why it is that UK passengers pay such a big levy in APD compared to our European neighbours," she said.
