Originally Posted by AUTOGLIDE
Ridiculous. The UK public didn't cause the banks to fail and get bailed out by the government with tax payers money. It didn't drive the finances of the nation into the ground by over spending and the use of cinderella economics.
No, none of it was the fault of the public, and the fact that other people's foolish behaviour has cost us all so much money makes me as angry as anyone.
But we have to face the fact that, for whatever reason and with whomever the blame lies, the country's finances are in a dreadful state. We, as a nation, need to start dealing with the public debt and budget deficit so that future generations are not forever paying off the debts this generation ran up. And that, like it or not, means higher taxes on everything and everybody, for there is very little that can be cut from public spending without affecting essential services. I'm merely being realistic.
I'm not arguing that the new rate of APD is reasonable, for I don't think it is. My own feeling is that air passenger duty should be around £10 per flight, with VAT being added to air travel (and other forms of transport, too) to make up the shortfall. That would seem to be a fair compromise that would not disproportionately penalise low-cost travellers. Ending the duty-free status of aviation fuel would be another excellent fund-raising measure, but not one that any government could implement alone.