United Kingdom


 

The politics affecting business travel

Travel and transport were hot topics yet again at all of the UK political parties’ 2011 autumn conferences...

 

Transport represented a key area of battle for the parties during the general election (remember the manifesto pledges on runways in the south east and high-speed rail?), but what do the parties have to say now?

 

The key points affecting travel and transport policy were:

 

Liberal Democrats:

  • An end to the inflation-linking of rail fares
  • More smart ticketing
  • Encouraging modal shift
  • Renewed commitment to domestic high-speed rail

 

Labour:

  • Transport decisions devolved to regions
  • More high-speed rail lines

 

Conservatives:

  • Action on rail fares
  • New railway reform
  • Focus on removing carbon from car transport
  • Review of speed limits

 

One topic notable by its absence from the conference podiums was aviation. That is not to say that the issue wasn’t discussed at the conferences. Several aviation organisations, including the Airport Operators Association (AOA), the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), and the British Air Transport Association (BATA), organised fringe meetings at all three conferences, raising issues such as whether Air Passenger Duty (APD) and other taxes are grounding business and travellers, and lobbying party members to influence their future reviews of transport policy.

 

You can read the full article in November/December's Connect magazine