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Ban middle class from city breaks, says Mayor's aide
Jason Beattie, Evening Standard27.09.07
Ken Livingstone was today embroiled in a row over plans to ban the middle classes from taking "frivolous" city breaks.
The Mayor's chief environmental adviser Charles Secrett said there should be curbs on all "aspirational" air travel such as journeys to second homes or visiting relatives.
Mr Secrett told a Greenpeace fringe meeting at the Labour conference that the rationing of such flights was "essential" if carbon emissions were to be limited.
His proposals provoked a damning response from the flying lobby, which claimed it would be a "suicide pill" for Mr Livingstone in next year's mayoral election.
The Mayor has already called for a moratorium on new airports and is opposed to the expansion of Heathrow.
But Mr Secrett went further, saying it was time to limit the number of short-haul flights taken for leisure purposes.
He said leisure accounted for 80 per cent of all flights from Britain, while ABC1s - the top social groups - were responsible for 70 per cent of flights.
"We cannot afford aspirational use," he said. "The problem we have is there's no low-carbon breakthrough on the horizon as far as air travel is concerned.
"When you combine that with the fact we are already committed to exceeding the two degrees centigrade threshold which leads to dangerous climate change, we have to recognise that no industry can be exempt from taking a climate- and carbon-responsible perspective. Aviation cannot be treated as a special case.
"If there are no clean fuels on the horizon - and there aren't - it means curbing flights. The key is to cut frivolous flights and maintain essential air travel, both long-haul business and long-haul tourism."
Asked to define what he meant by "frivolous", he said: "When we are talking about frivolous, we are talking about excessive ABC1s taking short- and medium-haul flights. For long-haul flights that's not frivolous."
He added: "The reality is all of us are in the same boat. We all have to curb what we would otherwise like to do, and that will mean rationing.
"We won't be able to visit our relatives or visit the third home as we wish until there's clean fuel."
Mr Secrett denied his plans would penalise low earners who have only recently been able to afford to fly abroad. He suggested that the tax on flights could be lowered for poor families.
Former Labour minister Brian Wilson, who represents the lobby group Flying Matters, said the plans were "deeply offensive". "I have never heard of a bigger suicide pill politically than curbing 'frivolous' flights. That sort of talk is deeply offensive."
Reader views (36)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
So now you can't even visit your family! More Nu Labor communist Stalinist controls on your life!
- S.C., Manchester, UK
We need more airports and more fast air travel to keep pace wih the rest of the world, which is not run by stupid, greenie idiots. Global warming is a myth.
- Charlotte Browning, Bolton, England
So now I can't visit my relatives, but I can just keep working and paying tax and keeping greenie hypocrites like that in a job, so that they can fly around everywhere instead?
- Elizabeth Kent, London, England
Red Ken is an idiot, and so are most of his team. How big a carbon footprint did their jolly to Venezuela, only to find Chavez 'not in' leave? So they got a promise of cheap oil - Venzuelan crude is about the muckiest there is and is best left in the ground!
- Paul, London
Why doesn't he do what he'd REALLY like to do and just ban the Middle Classes?
- oh, that's right: they'd be no-one to pay for everything.
- Roz, Chamonix, France
Will Ken stop his world travels? I doubt it! The reason that I go abroad for short city breaks is that holidays abroad are cheaper than equivalent holidays in this country. I travel by Eurostar in preference to aeroplane where this is a feasable alternative.
- Martin Philip, London
How dare Ken Livingstone presume to tell 'us' how to live our lives. What kind of 'people' vote for this buffoon? Still if this is the kind of meddling idiot Londoners want to run their city, good luck to them...they are a laughing stock if they only realised it!
- Alan Hartford, Huntingdon, UK
It has actually happened - the lunatics have taken over the asylum. I am sick to death of this eco-evangelism rammed down our throats.
- Peter Rowe, Sydney, Australia
What a stupid idea. How is he going to regulate this? Who can say if a four-day trip to (say) Berlin is business, pleasure, or two of each? And if airlines can't fill up their empty seats with cheap-fare customers, businessmen will either have to pay much higher fares, or find that their choice of flights is reduced. Probably both.
- Nigel, London
Congratulations Ken. Yes, only environmental warriors should be allowed to fly around the world and preach love of planet. The rest of us should be confined to bicycles: a form of transport not used by Ken. Did he ever own a bicycle?
Yes, ban all visits to family. Families are offensive, especially if they reinforce values such as responsibility to community, the value of a work ethic and the need to earn a salary and pay taxes that pay for Ken’s jet setting.
If London needs an idiot to match Boris then look no further than Ken. That’s right: Ken the people’s party, but sadly not our sort of people.
- Dr C R Westwood, Crawley, UK
I am sick to death of politicians getting in on the 'green' line.
Whatever Britain does will make no difference because the rest of the world is killing the planet.
Get used to it and leave Brits alone.
- Dennis Spence , Manila, Philippines
I think he's a right 'charlie'!
- Matthew, London
Talk about the politics of envy. A prat representing a prat.
- Ayliff A Mcnab, Orihuela Costa, Spain
He should concern himself with bigger issues not the airline industry that accounts for only 2% of Carbon Emissions anyway.If he is worried about the environment maybe he could start by getting more environmentally friendly buses for the city. As a cyclist I have to endure all their fumes every morning on the way to work. I'm sure they are not doing much for the environment.
- Rob, London
Nc, London - actually, once a month to visit family using air travel is excessive.
- Nu, London
What a plonker!
- Neil, London
When "normal people" fly...it's aspirational.
When "politicians" fly it's imperative for "research purposes" for our own good.
Just lecturing from PC fools.
- Nick, LONDON
Secrett should tell us why the eco-freaks moan on about cars and flights when there is a blind spot to the carcinogenic diesel train pollution at Paddington.
Come to think of it, Ken's other crony Jenny Jones, a onetime deputy mayor, flies to Mayors For Peace type conferences. Both she and Secrett have been very quiet about all the fireworks Green Ken lets off.
What a bunch of hypocrites living off our council tax.
- Bruce Lyon, Tooting, London
To Belgium, France, and Holland there are viable, and actually more desireable alternatives for travel. Eurostar and ferries are much nicer than enduring the horror of UK airports and Eurostar is even faster in many cases. Unfortunately, rail travel here in the UK has deteriorated to the point where it is now not viable. Definitely time for the government to pull out the finger and decide and put in place a viable alternative to domestic air travel.
- James, Southend, Essex
My partner and I work long hours and for several years have not been able to afford a proper holiday. For us, a city break is a cheaper alternative to a 2 week holiday in the sun. Ken Livingstone should really think things through before he comes out with remarks such as this. We are not middle class people and struggle to find the money to go away. We're certainly not 'frivilous'.
- Lisa, London
Go ahead - make my day. At last that would ensure we got rid of Ken.
I suspect that these comments target middle Britain (but exclude polititians and their entourage ?
It would make more sense to target business travel - that would encourage companies to have conference calls and video conferences rather than jump on a plane at the first opportunity.
Ditching airmiles schemes and hotel bonus points would also go a long way to reducing business travel.
- Andy Hulley, London, UK
My other half is a European national, who has worked in London for 12 years. Paying large amounts of taxes and contributing to the UK economy, I should add. We fly home (ie his country of origin) every month to see his family. So are we behaving frivolously, or acting as responsible family members?
Roll on Boris.
- Nc, London
Yet another ridiculous comment from this muppet to add to the all the others he has expressed over the years. Not content with attempting to ruin London businesses with his Congestion Charge he now wants to ruin totally the air industry and the others associated with it. London voters can do the country a big favour by getting rid of him and then turning their fire on other politicians who seem hell bent on telling us how to lead our lives instead of letting us think for ourselves and make our own decisions.
- Michael, Ashford, Kent
What a total idiot. Since when is it 'aspirational' to want to visit ones relatives? We are always being told that one of the key factors in the rising crime rate is family breakdown. Now we are told that a desire to keep in touch with our loved ones is selfish and tantamount to eco-heresy. Why should we feel guilty about wanting to do the fun things in life, like visit family and friends and take the odd holiday? Otherwise life is just work, isolation and drudgery.
- Lindsay, London
So, Brian "Nero" Wilson finds that "sort of talk deeply offensive".
I find his lobbying for the aviation industry and his wilful ignorance of its impact on climate change deeply offensive.
- Austen, Croydon, Surrey
How's about Ken taking on the ridiculous use of 'space' heaters outside pubs and restaurants, which are now used even during the summer to stop poor little smokers from getting cold. This must be one of the most obviously unnecessary and deliberately polluting uses of energy.
- Mm, London
OK, Ken. I'll cancel my trip to London, where my wife and I spend a bit on theatres, food, hotels, Tube, shopping.
Perhaps another European city will be more welcoming.
What does Boris think of this suggestion?
- Leslie Moody, Västerås, Sweden
This is just typical Red Ken idiotic hyperbole, designed to annoy the "ABC1" types. First it was 4x4s and now air travel. How on earth would this ever be managed, if it were ever to struggle its way onto the statute books? "What is the purpose of your trip? Business, holiday, frivolous city break or weekend to your 2nd home?".
If he is so concerned about air pollution in London, why doesn't he do something really radical and close down Heathrow and Gatwick and force BAA to build an airport somewhere else, or even use Birmingham, with a fast rail link from the capital? Now that would be radical policy making, and not just sabre-rattling claptrap.
- Nobby Clark, London
An idea worthy of the Soviet Union or Communist China.
- R M, London, UK
Who the hell does this man think he is? I find it deeply offensive to be told that taking my daughter to visit elderly relatives is "frivolous". Dare we ask how many flights Mr Scarlett has taken (whether business or frivolous) in the past 12 months?
- Emma, Staines, UK
Ken lives on a completely different planet. Who is he to say people are not able to attend family gatherings or weddings of close friends or escape London for the weekend. Perhaps it might occur to him one day that people are forced into the air on flights around the UK because the train is a) horrendously expensive b) a bun-fight c) completely unreliable. I caught a GNER train back down from Carlisle to London on Sunday and it took nine hours in total with the aisles rammed full of people because GNER don't seem to have a cap on tickets. The only factor that will drive people away from air travel is that UK airports are also rapidly becoming completely intolerable. Perhaps the Government is deliberately refusing to sort out BAA/ Ferrovial because it can serve as their strategy for reducing air travel?
- Jo, London
What is wrong with these so called 'advisers'? Why can't they just let people get on with living their lives the way they want to - even if they want to fly off for weekends. I bet half of these over-paid advisers already have homes abroad and do exactly the opposite of what they preach. Or are they just trying to jump on the ever-expanding global warming train? How very boring!
- Scott, London
How about Red Ken stops flying on taxpayers' money to Cuba and Venezuela?
- Simon, London
Those who are bleating now are the same ones who will elbow their way to the front of the rationing queues. Get real something has to be done, and Ken Livingstone displays the courage that is so lacking in the rest of Government as he indeed risks his political career.
- Esther Phillips, Leatherhead
Labour, they just love to control the minutae of our lives. Not content with taxing us to extinction, they now want to limit where we travel. Next you will see them introduce travel permits between towns in this country.
Get them out of office before they can do any more damage.
- Paul, Harrow, UK
Well done to Ken and Charles Secrett for standing up and expressing their view on this. Whether or not you agree, personally I find you just have to have some respect for Ken merely for speaking out. There is so much wishy-washy rubbish spouted by politicians these days which says precisely nothing - just listen to Gordon Brown addressing Nu Lab. Vacuous is an understatement. I agree with Ken, however some equally driven politican actually needs to fight to provide better alternatives such as rail, at least to eliminate unnecessary domestic flights.
- Headhunter, London
