| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... 13:24 - Mar 26 with 672 views | bluelagos |
My idea around the need to disincentivise people from the frequent flyer clubs.
I actually emailed the Labour party in 1997 with this very idea:- Found the email exchange below.
Email 1:
Main Topic: Policy Enquiry
Sub Topic: Health
Message: An idea for an environmentally conscious party......(not sure if labour qualifies as such) Airmiles abuses
Airmiles were introduced as an incentive for frequent flyers to travel with particular airlines. Unfortunately, such is their generosity, that they can work as an incentive so that sometimes, business travelers will make trips, they might not otherwise make. An example might be a trip to the USA where a business class flight would generate for the employee circa 9k airmiles, enough to pay for a free weekend in Dublin, Paris.
Thus the unnecessary airmiles flight actually generates an environmental impact from two flights. More than ever, alternatives to air travel are now available e.g. the use of video conferencing for international meetings and / or the use of fast trains for travel within the uk / northern Europe.
Proposals / options
1. Amend the existing schemes to ban the redemption of frequent flyer miles as flights. This would limit the impact of the secondary free flights, though the incentive to make unnecessary business flights would still exist.
2. Ban airmiles and other frequent flyer schemes on all first class / business flights. Given that the abuse of the incentive, only works where someone else is paying, banning all business and first class flights from receiving airmiles would limit the number of unnecessary flights booked
3. Ban airmiles and other frequent flyer schemes on all flights. The idea of encouraging frequent flying is outdated and far from the environmentally conscious mood of today. Simply banning frequent flyer rewards schemes would remove this incentive altogether and would leave business flyers choosing to make flights based solely on the requirement irrespective of any personal incentive they might receive.
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The response from the Labour party:
Dear Mr Lagos
Thank you for your email. I suggest you contact the Department for Transport about this matter at:
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My response:
Is that a serious reply? A voter comes with an idea for a political policy, an idea that could have a positve benefit to the environment, and you direct to the Department for Transport?
Do they make your policies for you?
???
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 13:28 - Mar 26 with 635 views | J2BLUE |
I once emailed Ben Gummer about planning permission and got a similarly couldn't care less response.
I realise planning isn't his area but I literally quoted lots of Tory comments back to him including something about a house building crusade. I thought he might try and do something helpful. Instead he replied with about 8 words, three of which I had to google! |  |
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 13:32 - Mar 26 with 615 views | bluelagos |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 13:28 - Mar 26 by J2BLUE |
I once emailed Ben Gummer about planning permission and got a similarly couldn't care less response.
I realise planning isn't his area but I literally quoted lots of Tory comments back to him including something about a house building crusade. I thought he might try and do something helpful. Instead he replied with about 8 words, three of which I had to google! |
They're really are w*nkers ain't they. People say you should try and engage, but when you do, you get fck all back anyway. | |
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:10 - Mar 26 with 555 views | Guthrum |
I was very tempted to email my MP this morning to ask why the Conservative back benches were full of bone-headed cabbages, after listening to the fatuous and poor-taste comments of the bloke yesterday who, in the midst of a pandemic which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands in the UK, wants to to start spurious protests about milk in order to circumvent the rules on social distancing.
What I shouted at the radio contained considerably riper language. |  |
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:11 - Mar 26 with 552 views | longtimefan |
I like your naivety that only First Class or Business class flights are paid for by employers. I’ve flown a far bit for business, including to the US, and it never been anything other than economy class. |  | | |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:16 - Mar 26 with 531 views | bluelagos |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:11 - Mar 26 by longtimefan |
I like your naivety that only First Class or Business class flights are paid for by employers. I’ve flown a far bit for business, including to the US, and it never been anything other than economy class. |
My high flying (business class) days only lasted so long!
Cattle class pretty much for all the past 20 years. | |
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:18 - Mar 26 with 524 views | longtimefan |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:16 - Mar 26 by bluelagos |
My high flying (business class) days only lasted so long!
Cattle class pretty much for all the past 20 years. |
My first US business flight was 1993, even then that was economy. | | | |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:27 - Mar 26 with 504 views | bluelagos |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:18 - Mar 26 by longtimefan |
My first US business flight was 1993, even then that was economy. |
Virgin upper class is the bollox tbf. They have a bar, like a proper bar that you can sit at for the flight.
Anyhow - the whole point, is that it is ridiculous that we incentivise people to fly around (through rewards schemes) at a time when we should be doing the opposite. | |
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:36 - Mar 26 with 476 views | X0Y0 |
You still pay the tax on the reward flights, so if the tax is at the correct level (assuming an efficient free market) then this should offset the negative harms from flying.
Edit as I’m aware I didn’t address the original point, and I agree most politicians / parties collectively are useless at addressing the concerns of the electorate. Most don’t even truly engage with the people they represent to try and understand what most concerns them. [Post edited 26 Mar 2021 14:38]
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| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:41 - Mar 26 with 457 views | bluelagos |
| This is how sh1t politics is in this country... on 14:36 - Mar 26 by X0Y0 |
You still pay the tax on the reward flights, so if the tax is at the correct level (assuming an efficient free market) then this should offset the negative harms from flying.
Edit as I’m aware I didn’t address the original point, and I agree most politicians / parties collectively are useless at addressing the concerns of the electorate. Most don’t even truly engage with the people they represent to try and understand what most concerns them. [Post edited 26 Mar 2021 14:38]
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How does paying tax (money) on a flight offset the environmental impact? It is possible for those taxes to be used to offset the impact, but that is in the hands of the govt.
The taxes may well be a disincentive to flying for us peasants, but the point is that we have rewards schemes (frequent flyer) that incentivise some employees to make flights that could easily be avoided. | |
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