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NEWS / JULY 2009 / WE WILL PROTECT AIR TRAVEL FOR THE MASSES, SAYS ED MILIBAND
The Guardian carries an interview with Climate Secretary, Ed Miliband, on the front of today’s paper. He dismisses demands for punitive sanctions to curb flying, saying the government was determined to ensure that airline travel remains affordable for ordinary people.
“Where I disagree with other people on aviation is if you did 80% cuts across the board, as some people have called for on aviation, you would go back to 1974 levels of flying,” he said. “I don’t want to have a situation where only rich people can afford to fly.”
Read the full interview here. The Telegraph also report Mr Miliband’s comments.
OUR REACTION
Rt Hon Brian Wilson
commenting on
We will protect air travel for the masses, says Ed Miliband
The industry has set out a plan for reducing it's emissions to 2005 levels by 2050 against a threefold increase in passenger numbers. This approach is exactly what the Climate Change Secretary calls for.
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FlyingMatters reaction to public attitudes to air travel and the environment survey
Reacting to statistics published by the Department for Transport on attitudes to air travel and the environment, showing that the proportion of people willing to pay extra fell from 69% in 2006 to 60% in 2010 among those who do believe that air travel harms the environment and from 50% to 40% among those who have flown in the last 12 months, Brian Wilson, Chairman of FlyingMatters said: "Just as the public's appetite for paying more for flying is waning, the Government plan to push ahead with eye-watering rises in the tax on flying so that from November a family of four will pay up to £340 in tax alone. This will push flying out of the reach of many ordinary families who only fly occasionally."
