Airports and haulage firms have funded groups of MPs pushing against aviation and fuel taxes, the Westminster Accounts reveal.
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A PR consultancy founded by two former Treasury advisers has supported three parliamentary groups lobbying against fuel and aviation taxes. The groups have received over £84,000 in funding from the transport industry over the past four years.
Tendo Consulting, set up in 2015 by Peter Carroll and Will de Peyer, has acted as the secretariat for three all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) which have pushed for reductions in Air Passenger Duty (APD) and fuel duty. Carroll and de Peyer were both special advisers to Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury under George Osborne.
The groups are funded by airports, and trade associations representing airlines, the aviation industry and haulage contractors. APPGs are run by and for members of parliament but have no formal role in parliamentary business. They have been a key focus of The Westminster Accounts investigation.
So what? Implementing taxes on carbon was never going to be easy. Yet economists agree that putting a price on our emissions is the best way to change behaviour. According to the IEA, aviation accounts for around 2.5 per cent of total global emissions while trucks carrying freight account for 4.4 per cent. Backdoor attempts by industry to preserve the status quo make it even harder to hit net zero goals.
In November 2020, as the airline industry was being pummelled by the pandemic, the Future of Aviation APPG wrote to the then-Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, requesting a temporary suspension of APD, while its chair called for a review of the passenger levy. The now-defunct Air Passenger Duty Reform APPG was also set up to campaign against the tax.
The Road and Freight Logistics APPG has called for a pause in the rollout of Clean Air Zones, which restrict dirtier vehicles in cities, while MPs in the group have spoken about the need to reduce the “enormous level of taxation on diesel” and haulage fuel costs. The APPG is funded through Tendo by the Road Haulage Association, a trade association for haulage companies.
Sunak halved APD on domestic flights in 2021. Fuel duty was frozen from 2011 to last year, when it was cut by 5p a litre.
“Airlines and airports seem to be continually trying to find new ways to argue for lower passenger taxes, despite already benefiting from no tax being levied on aviation fuel and no VAT being charged on tickets,” said Tim Johnson, Director of the Aviation Environment Federation NGO. “The aviation industry seems unable to give up its preoccupation with growing its profits and minimising all liability for environmental costs.”
A trip to Silverstone. Henry Smith MP has acted as Chair for the Air Passenger Duty Reform APPG and its successor the Future of Aviation APPG. He has repeatedly called for a 12-month waiver and review of APD, describing it as a “pressure on our industry,” and argued in Parliament for its reduction on both domestic and international flights.
In 2021 and 2022, Emirates Airlines UK treated Smith to two trips to the British Grand Prix in Silverstone at a cost of over £8,000. Smith told Tortoise that Britain charges the highest air passenger duty “of any major economy”. He said: “The Future of Aviation APPG is also very focussed on Britain being at the forefront of sustainable aviation technology… given the significant economic benefits this can bring to the nation.”
In a response to Tortoise on behalf of Tendo, de Peyer said: “In all our work we adhere to both the letter and spirit of the regulations and the code of conduct of our professional body, the PRCA, and the Office of the Registrar of the Consultant Lobbyists. Where required, details of our work are a matter of parliamentary and/or public record.”
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