U.K. Contemplating Travel Limits, Tax on Flights

A traveler in the U.K. alerted me to a somewhat disturbing article appearing in the Telegraph a few Sundays ago.

Harsh new taxes on air travel, including a strict personal flight allowance, will be unveiled by the Conservatives tomorrow as part of a plan that would penalise business travellers, holidaymakers and the tourist industry.

No question that airlines need to use cleaner fuel, and better maintained planes.: the clear skies and lack of storms in the days immediately following nine-eleven illustrated the degree of pollution air traffic spawns. But my first impression is that this is a typical 'kill the mosquito with a tank' reaction so common in politics, and I for one, hope they think it through.

The irony -- well, one of them -- is that frequent fliers are to be targetted by the proposed new tax, and I cannot think of any fliers who travel more frequently than politicians.