I congratulate the hon. Members for Witham (Priti Patel) and for Crawley (Henry Smith) on securing this debate. As a co-sponsor of the motion, as well as a seasoned and regular air traveller, I apologise to the House: because of the inclement weather coming in from the Atlantic, I shall try to rush back to Scotland this evening rather than waiting, or having my constituents wait until tomorrow afternoon before they see me.
I do not know whether I was targeted, but as chairman of the all-party aviation group I certainly received my fair share of correspondence on the petition connected with this debate. Indeed, I do not believe I have ever been contacted by as many constituents on any subject in my time in this place, and I have been here for some 20 years. As has been mentioned, the all-party group instigated an inquiry, not only into this tax but into the whole question of aviation and its future in the UK. It was clear from that work—a fairly major inquiry, with some 50 submissions and two oral evidence sessions—that we are likely to damage the whole UK economy unless we get this tax right. That was clear to me and the all-party group, with all conclusions supported by all parties in the House that were part of the inquiry, which is a first when it comes to the future of air traffic.
A report is available, and if hon. Members ping me an e-mail, I will send them a copy, if they have not already read it. The report has been sent to the Prime Minister and a fairly sizeable number of Treasury civil servants have asked for a copy, as a consequence of which I presume that the Minister is aware that the report is in existence. If he has not done so already, I would ask him to look at it, because we still await a response from Treasury officials and the Minister. There is overwhelming support from all sections of the House; indeed, we have already heard—as I am sure we will hear again this afternoon as we approach 5 o’clock—about the disadvantages of air passenger duty, as well as the evidence for those disadvantages. The vast majority of submissions received stated that the UK was being placed at a significant competitive disadvantage as a result of the tax. That applied to 43 of the 51 submissions, which I suggest is overwhelming.
But—and it is a big “but”—it is impossible to draw a comprehensive picture of the national economic impact of air passenger duty without Treasury support in
looking at the issue far more closely. I am looking for that support from the Government this afternoon, and I also hope to see their response to the report sooner rather than later. The report also mentioned reports from the British Chambers of Commerce and from Oxera. They were good reports with credible data sources, but they were selective. We need a comprehensive assessment of the effects of the tax, and that is a task for the Treasury to undertake.
There are examples of air passenger duty leading to direct commercial loss. We have already heard my right hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins) talk about Manchester airport, and say that AirAsia X cited ever-increasing taxes as its primary reason for abandoning its flights to UK destinations. I have been given other examples as well. It is a matter of public record that Continental Airlines, now part of United Airlines, would have abandoned flights from Belfast to the United States had the level of APD not been reduced in October 2011.
If only some thought could be given to the idea of regional variation, as my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty) said. That would have the greatest effect on the regions in question. Only yesterday, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports called for immediate action on the levy. They estimate that, by 2016, £210 million less will be spent each year in Scotland because of the tax. Glasgow airport’s managing director, Amanda McMillan, has said that APD
“will continue to damage Scottish aviation by making routes unviable and decimating Scotland’s links to the rest of the world.”
As my hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Sandra Osborne) said, the problem is also affecting my own airport at Prestwick.