Response to Budget Statement

March 20th, 2013

BATA has reacted to the Chancellor’s Budget Statement, calling the missed opportunity to create growth and jobs, with the failure to scrap the tax on flying, a “shocking own goal”.

BATA Comment on Budget

Responding to today’s Budget Statement, Simon Buck, Chief Executive of the British Air Transport Association, said:

“The Chancellor rightly emphasised that our nation is in a global race competing alongside new centres of enterprise around the world but then contradicted himself on the need for competitive taxes to bring new businesses to our shores by confirming increases in the sky high tax on flying. Given that there is now incontrovertible evidence that scrapping the highest tax on flying in the world would benefit the UK economy by at least £16 billion over the next three years and create 60,000 new jobs, the missed opportunity to help kick start our economy is a shocking own goal. 1p off a pint of beer won’t do much to help those who might otherwise have been looking forward to new jobs.”