Brown battles to take back the high ground as Tories plan a green tax allowance for flyers

Brown battles to take back the high ground as Tories plan a green tax allowance for flyers

On the eve of tomorrow's publication of the Climate Change bill, the chancellor will use a speech to the Green Alliance to demand a "new world order" that can address the need for urgent cuts in carbon emissions in the same way that the Make Poverty History campaign put pressure on institutions such as the UN, EU and G8.

His comments follow the publication yesterday of Conservative proposals for new taxes on air travel.

In a sideswipe at the Tory leader, Mr Brown will say: "Only a government fully committed to the UK's role in Europe can show such leadership. Euro-scepticism and continent-wide environmental action are at odds with each other."

Under the Tories' plans, VAT or fuel duty will be charged on domestic flights for the first time and air passenger duty (APD), which is levied on airlines and costs between £10 and £80 a passenger, will be replaced with a per-flight tax that will target airlines with the dirtiest engines. It also proposes an annual "green air miles allowance" that will allow travellers one short-haul flight a year at a low tax rate and charge frequent flyers a higher tax rate.

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman, said that the Tories.....continued below

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Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary, will also enter the debate today. Mr Byers, co-chair of Tony Blair's climate change task force, will urge Mr Brown to ring-fence the £2bn a year he gets from APD and use it to promote energy-saving measures. That would answer claims that it is just another stealth tax, he says.

Tomorrow's bill will create binding domestic targets for lower carbon emissions, much as last week's EU summit decided to do Europe-wide. That will ensure that ministers have to account for emissions in the same disciplined way they do for taxes and expenditure, the chancellor will say, though he will also stress the need to harness the skills and commitment of both individuals and communities. "People want to make the right choices and they want help to take the right decisions. Government must provide practical help with, wherever possible, incentives in preference to penalties," Mr Brown will say.

A spokesman for the Treasury said it was "highly questionable" whether the Tory proposals would reduce emissions. For instance, he added, taxing aviation fuel will lead to fuel being imported from countries where there is no such tax.

British airlines also attacked the proposals. Virgin Atlantic said they would damage the UK economy by making British airlines less competitive. A spokesman said politicians should use "tax incentives, not tax increases" by encouraging the development of environmentally friendly fuel and jets. British Airways said taxation was an "extremely blunt instrument" for reducing carbon emissions.