Clause 4 - Advertising: exclusions
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill [Lords]
5:00 pm
Mr David Wilshire (Spelthorne, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 13, in page 2, line 23, leave out
'(other than an in-flight magazine)'.
I shall deal with the amendment as briefly as possible, but I must detain the Committee for a few moments. It is never possible to disassociate oneself from one's position in the party, but on this occasion I am not speaking as an Opposition Whip. The issue is primarily a constituency one. I have been briefed by British Airways, but I own no shares in the company and the only benefit that I receive from it is the same as that which is available to every Member of the House.
The significance of the matter for me is that British Airways employs 35,000 people at Heathrow, of whom many are my constituents. Many of them are British Airways shareholders, and the knock-on effect of jobs created by the company is huge. Therefore, its continued prosperity—and that of many other airlines in and around the United Kingdom—is crucial to me as a constituency Member of Parliament, as it is to many other Members.
The implications of the amendment are significant. If the Bill is not amended, there will be problems. The in-flight retail sales figures are—for British Airways, which is probably the biggest—about £60 million. Interestingly, Britannia Airways, the largest of the British charter airlines, has reported sales of £29 million. Given the much tighter costings on charter tickets, the prosperity of the charter airlines depends heavily on their in-flight retail sales. If that means of making a profit were to be removed, the price of holidays would increase.
The implications are fairly serious. To put things into perspective, global tax-free sales are worth nearly US$3 billion, of which tobacco accounts for 14 per
cent. In-flight duty-free sales account for about 8 per cent. of that total. Europe is one of the biggest sectors of that market, and airlines flying in and around Europe would be more seriously affected than those operating in other parts of the world.