Final sittings of the public bill committee’s Finance Bill debates

Members of the public bill committee resumed their debate of the Finance (No 2) Bill with discussion on diesel and tobacco and vehicle duties. MPs then moved on to air passenger duty (clause 103). Long-haul rates are to increase in line with the retail price index for 2022-23. Exchequer secretary to the Treasury Kemi Badenoch said the increase for long-haul reduced rate economy class would be just over £2 and for the standard rate for all classes above economy it would be £5. The rate for long-haul travel by private jet would rise by £13. Short-haul rates were frozen for the tenth year.

Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour) said support for aviation had to include a commitment to tackling climate change and encouraging the industry to use cleaner fuel and other zero-emission technologies. Further the pandemic had had an uneven effect on airports forcing some of the smaller ones to...