Menu
Thu, 28 March 2024

Newsletter sign-up

Subscribe now
The House Live All
Mission possible: Delivering tomorrow’s homes today Partner content
Economy
Health
We must be more ambitious in efforts to modernise the UK’s rail network Partner content
By WSP
Transport
Data: driving the UK’s growth and productivity Partner content
Economy
Press releases

Tories should cut price of flights to Ibiza to win back young voters, says thinktank

2 min read

The Government should scrap air passenger duty for those under 30 in a bid to recapture the youth vote from Labour, a thinktank has said.


Jeremy Corbyn’s party surpassed expectations at June’s election after a large number of young voters flocked to Labour’s message.

Pledges such as scrapping tuition fees and a rise in the national living wage struck a chord with young people and helped Mr Corbyn’s party gain 30 new seats.

In a report out today, the Adam Smith Institute argue that taxes on plane tickets - dubbed the Ibiza tax - are among the highest in the world, and could be putting young people in the UK off travelling and working abroad.

The thinktank say raising the age at which the charge is paid from 16 to 30 would cut the cost of flights for young people, boost the economy and win voters over to the Conservatives.

Sam Bowman, Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute, said: “Today’s paper should start a conversation in the government and the Conservative Party at large about how to win back some of the younger voters lost to Corbyn, both in terms of specific policies that might improve young people’s prospects by raising their spending power, cutting their rents and giving them better access to the public services they need, and in terms of a wider culture shift that puts the priorities and problems of young people at the heart of Conservative governance.”

The report also suggested lowering the rate of national insurance paid, which would save young earners hundreds of pounds a year.

PoliticsHome Newsletters

PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe

Read the most recent article written by Nicholas Mairs - Public sector workers to get 5% pay rise from April if Labour wins election

Podcast
Engineering a Better World

The Engineering a Better World podcast series from The House magazine and the IET is back for series two! New host Jonn Elledge discusses with parliamentarians and industry experts how technology and engineering can provide policy solutions to our changing world.

NEW SERIES - Listen now