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Whether it’s by car or plane, we need to do less. Yet the government thinks of mobility as a freedom for it to champion

Travel is often a form of privilege. It needs time and money, and sometimes a confidence that you are welcome somewhere else. During a pandemic and a climate crisis, with travel clearly playing a central role in both, to regularly move across large distances requires an ever stronger sense of entitlement.

Yet the great benefits of travel – social, cultural, economic, psychological – have not gone away. And nor has the power of the travel lobby. When flights to the US resumed for Britons this week, after a long Covid hiatus, much of the media coverage read like an airline press release. There were only occasional hints that today’s transatlantic jets do not fit well with the goals of Cop26.
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With his fondness for private jets and dislike of delivering bad news, Boris Johnson does not feel like a prime minister suited to bringing our travel habit under control. In fact he is still hoping it won’t need to be. In the foreword to his government’s latest plan for reducing carbon emissions, he wrote: “In 2050, we will still be driving cars, flying planes … but our cars will be electric [and] our planes will be zero emission, allowing us to fly guilt-free.”

From its enthusiasm for roadbuilding to its refusal to raise fuel duty, from its tax cut for domestic air passengers to its reluctance to close our borders during the pandemic, Johnson leads a government that seems to fetishise mobility.

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Conservative voters appear particularly resistant to cutting back on travel. According to the pollsters Ipsos Mori, they are significantly less likely than Labour supporters to favour a tax on frequent flyers. But there is a chance that this could change. An estimated 15% of the population take 70% of the UK’s flights. Even if all these frequent flyers are Tories – which they are not – that is a much smaller proportion of the population than the party’s total vote.So it follows that many Conservatives aren’t big travellers. Among less wealthy Tories and more environmentally conscious ones, there may be many people who feel – or who will come to feel, as the climate crisis worsens – that protecting the restless lifestyles of the richest Britons should be less of a government priority.

It remains hard, though, to envisage a party that so reveres consumer choice seriously restricting flying, let alone driving. Not having to think about the wider consequences of our consumer decisions is one of the seductive prospects that modern Conservatism has always offered.

It’s a bit easier to imagine a Labour government, led by Keir Starmer or some other stern figure, telling us that unlimited travel is no longer justifiable – at least until technology makes zero-emission journeys possible. But even with the Tories having a terrible autumn, such a government, like zero-emission jets, still seems a long way off. If we want to be less toxic travellers, for the foreseeable future it’s up to us.

Stig wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:49 am One problem with a tax on frequent flyers is that it makes flying even more of a privilege available to those who can afford it. Not very equitable but what other tools does a government have to persuade people to cut their carbon emissions?

Bugtownboy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:09 am What’s wrong with a personal Carbon quota ? Apply to every consumable, including fuel. Everyone gets the same annual allowance, but they can be transferred/traded/saved.

Surely if we have to meet a Carbon target it’s, ok maybe idealistic, way of achieving it equitably.

Bugtownboy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:09 am What’s wrong with a personal Carbon quota ? Apply to every consumable, including fuel. Everyone gets the same annual allowance, but they can be transferred/traded/saved.

Surely if we have to meet a Carbon target it’s, ok maybe idealistic, way of achieving it equitably.

Bugtownboy wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:09 am What’s wrong with a personal Carbon quota ? Apply to every consumable, including fuel. Everyone gets the same annual allowance, but they can be transferred/traded/saved.

Surely if we have to meet a Carbon target it’s, ok maybe idealistic, way of achieving it equitably.

Mart wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:47 am Just a thought, but would we all start driving at about 45mph along the motorways?