Chelsea and Fulham MP, Greg Hands, has met former Jamaican Prime Minister and current Leader of the Jamaican Labour Party, Andrew Holness, to discuss the Conservative led Government’s cuts to the Caribbean, Indian and Australasian bands of Air Passenger Duty (APD).
At the last Budget statement, in March this year, major reforms and reductions to APD were announced by the Chancellor. The Government will reform APD by abolishing Bands C and D from 1 April 2015. This will eliminate the two highest rates of APD charged on flights to countries over 4,000 miles from Britain. From next year, all long haul flights will carry the same lower Band B tax rate that passengers currently pay to fly to the United States. The changes, which will benefit all destinations presently in Band C, which currently includes Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean.
The reforms are particularly welcome amongst Chelsea & Fulham’s many diaspora communities, particularly those of Caribbean, Indian, Australasian and South African origin.
Since 2009, Greg Hands has campaigned for reform of the APD system, and particularly to amend the banding structure of the tax. The current system, introduced by the last Labour Government, caused unfair anomalies in the rate, for instance where flights to the Caribbean were taxed more than those to California - even though California is further away - as it was calculated on distance between capital cities and the UK. Greg even tabled an amendment to Labour’s 2009 Budget which would have abolished APD, and spoke at length in the House of Commons against the higher bands.
At the Conservative Party Conference, held last week in Birmingham, Greg met with the former Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, to discuss the positive impact the new policy will have on the Caribbean and also on local residents in Chelsea & Fulham of Caribbean origin.
Chelsea and Fulham is home to large numbers of residents with links to countries across the world, who will benefit from the new reduced rate when travelling to visit family or for business. This includes over 3,400 constituents from the Caribbean, 1,500 of Indian origin, and 1,500 of Chinese origin, as well as over 4,000 people whose origins are from other Asian countries. All these long-haul destinations will benefit from the scrapping of the two highest APD bands.
Commenting on the meeting and the new ADP policy, set to come in next year, Greg Hands said: “It was an absolute pleasure to meet Andrew Holness, who like me, has been campaigning for several years for a fairer tax system on flights. I am delighted that the new regime will be coming in next year, and it is something I have been pushing towards for five years.
“I have many residents who regularly travel to the Caribbean to visit family, so this will make this journeys more affordable for them. Additionally it will benefit the Caribbean economy by removing an unfair barrier to exports and particular tourism which is an essential industry. This measure also contributes to the UK's growth opportunities by lowering the cost of travelling to many emerging market destinations such as China, India and Brazil. Some of the biggest beneficiaries however will be regular travellers to family outside of Europe of which includes many thousands of my constituents.
“Both Mr Holness and me are looking forward to the introduction of this policy next year.”
Andrew Holness was Prime Minister of Jamaica from 2011 to 2012, and is currently the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition.