Kemi Badenoch: Labour’s pursuit of Net Zero will make your holiday more expensive

Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has today [Friday 11 July 2025] on a visit to Stansted Airport said that the Labour government's ideological pursuit of Net Zero by 2050 is going to make going everyone's summer holidays more expensive.

In the 7^th Carbon Budget of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the climate quango says: “The cost of decarbonising aviation and addressing non-CO2 effects should be reflected in the cost to fly. This will help manage growth in aviation demand in line with Net Zero.” https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Seventh-Carbon-Budget.pdf

At the Autumn budget Chancellor Rachel Reeves already raised Air Passenger Duty (APD), meaning that a family of four (all aged above 16) would pay up to £200 more to fly to destinations like America. Further rises will be necessary for the “demand management” envisaged by the CCC to meet Labour's Net Zero 2050 target. The Treasury and industry body Airlines UK agree that increases in APD will be offset by raising passenger fares.

On a visit to Stansted Airport in her North West Essex constituency, Kemi Badenoch said:

“Labour's ideological rush to Net Zero 2050 is not only bankrupting our country and leaving us dangerously reliant on China, it's also making holidays more expensive, just as the cost-of-living crisis for working people gets worse.

“Under my leadership the Conservative Party are going to make things easier for the makers – the people who work hard to provide for their families – and not force up the cost of their summer holidays.

“Meanwhile, Labour's climate envoy has racked up 76,000 air miles on more than a dozen flights in just nine months. As ever with Labour, it's one rule for them, another for the rest of us, and it's taxpayers who ultimately pay the price.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Following the Climate Change Committee's advice, Rachel Reeves hiked up Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the Autumn Budget:

• The Climate Change Committee's 7^th Carbon Budget proposed increasing the ‘cost to fly'. ‘The cost of decarbonising aviation and addressing non-CO2 effects should be reflected in the cost to fly. This will help manage growth in aviation demand in line with Net Zero' (Climate Change Committee, Seventh Carbon Budget, 14 January 2025, link).

• Labour's Autumn Budget increased all APD rates from 2026-27, with a 50 per cent increase for the Higher Rate. ‘For 2026-27, the government will adjust all APD rates to help correct for below-inflation uprating in recent years. This will equate to £2 more for those flying to short-haul destinations in economy class. The higher rate for larger private jets will rise by a further 50 per cent, and the government will consult on extending this rate to all private jets within the APD regime' (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024, 30 October 2024, link).

• Labour announced that from 2027-28 onwards, all rates will be upgraded by forecast RPI inflation. ‘From 2027-28 onwards, all rates will be uprated by forecast RPI and rounded to the nearest penny. The government is also consulting on extending the scope of the APD higher rate to capture all passengers travelling in private jets already within the APD regime' (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024, 30 October 2024, link).

 Labour's plans will increase the cost of flying by £555 million:

• The Treasury state that ‘airlines and aircraft operators ordinarily pass the cost of APD through to the consumer in prices'. ‘The government's understanding is that airlines and aircraft operators ordinarily pass the cost of APD through to the consumer in prices, although this is a commercial decision for the airline or operator. This measure may therefore impact individuals who travel by air, who may see an increase in air fares. Those individuals who travel in a non-economy class and by larger, more luxurious private jets may see a bigger increase' (HMRC, Air Passenger Duty: rates from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, 30 October 2024, link).

•  Airlines UK – the trade body for UK-registered airlines – said Labour's changes to APD will ‘directly [hit] the pockets of ordinary travellers'. Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, said: ‘Air Passenger Duty, however, already makes the UK less competitive and further increases in addition to rises in other business levies will impact growth, directly hitting the pockets of ordinary travellers and making it harder for UK airlines to put on new routes. We need a revised and joined-up approach to the UK's strategically vital aviation sector' (Airlines UK, Press Release, 30 October 2024, link).

• Therefore, Labour's plans will increase the cost of flying by £555 million over the next five years. According to the OBR, Labour's changes will increase the APD receipts by £555 million from 2025-26 to 2029-30 (HMRC, Air Passenger Duty: rates from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, 30 October 2024, link).

 Labour's approach is hypocritical:

• Labour's climate envoy, Rachel Kyte, has racked up 76,000 air miles in eight months. ‘Labour climate envoy racks up 76,000 air miles in eight months. Net zero diplomat bills taxpayers for flights equivalent to circling the Earth three times' (The Telegraph, 17 June 2025, link).