THE Scottish Greens are set to propose a £1000-per-head private jet tax in the party’s manifesto.
The document, due to be released this week, will include the measure in a bid to reduce the number of private flights, as well as removing tax breaks on aviation fuel and phasing out short-haul flights.
According to the Greens, data shows that private jets are five to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes, per passenger, and 50 times more polluting than trains.
Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater pledged “bold plans” to cut the number of aircraft taking off.
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She said: “We are in a climate emergency, with the evidence all around us. It is obscene that a small number of very wealthy people are jetting around the globe in climate-wrecking private jets.
“There is absolutely no justification for something so needless and destructive, not when the stakes are so high and the consequences are so severe.
“By introducing a super tax on these flights we can cut the number of jets in our sky and ensure that those who are polluting our planet are paying for the damage they are doing.”
She added: “We urgently need to reduce aviation emissions if we are to have any hope of a sustainable future.
The Scottish Green manifesto will have bold plans to cut the number of aircraft taking off, particularly short-haul flights, and to support greener transport.”
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