News: Tories dismiss move against cheap flights

Flights > News > # 1011 (01/11/2006)

Tory members dealt a blow to David Cameron's green credentials by voting against a move highlighting the damage no frills flights cause to the environment. A motion claiming “cheap flights are a false economy” was defeated by 57% to 43% in a debate at the party's annual conference in Bournemouth this week.

Travel writer Simon Calder, who spoke against the proposal, said he took 100 flights last year and hailed the increase in low cost travel as being a “superb way to transform lives” and create jobs.

“The main purpose of cheap flying is to drive economic growth and unlock human potential. Low cost airlines have forced traditional airlines to run like rational businesses,” he said.

While Mr Calder said he accepted that there was an environmental cost to no frills travel, he claimed it had also inspired people to see as much of the world as they can.

But design consultant Stephen Bayley, who spoke for the motion, predicted cheap flights would carry as great a stigma as drink driving over the next few years.

He said: “It's not a matter of tax - it's much more fundamentally a matter of personal responsibility and restraint. People stopped drink driving when they realised it was selfish and anti-social.”

He added: “The cost of air travel should actually reflect the damage it does to the environment.”