I do understand the NI position over APD, but it still leaves a catch 22 situation for the Government, firstly they state that this is a green issue and justify the tax take on that position. If you say OK there is water between Belfast and the mainland therefore NI is exempt because of no land based surface transport, how do you justify the charge to the other remote parts of the UK mainland, in addition you give NI an advantage over the rest of the UK, based on past performance it will be like Uni fee's so if you live in Scotland Ireland or Wales you'll pay no APD and England will take it on the chin and pay up
Some point to the Dublin issue, given the state of the ROI finances i can see why they want every drop of inward investment, but this comes at the same time as Europe and the UK is throwing money at the ROI to keep it a float. So a country that is bust drops it APD to zero whilst a country that is going bust charges its citizens a fortune with a further increase due in a couple of months.
I think the answer is to buy one of these carriers (aircraft carriers) taht the goverment will flog on the cheap and park it out side the 12 mile limit and fly from there and tell them to stuff the APD.
Seriously though if NI gets zero APD it could well be the start of the end of it for the UK. I was glad to see the back of Gordon Brown, but this lot cuddled up to Lib Dems and polar bears is a joke, the French and Dutch must think we have gone mad over LHR