PRIME minister Tony Blair appears to be succeeding in his bid to give duty-free a stay of execution, according to Labour MP Peter Snape.
Blair is managing to convince enough European politicians not to proceed with the plan to scrap duty-free sales, Snape, MP for West Bromwich East and GBTA parliamentary consultant, told the Lucerne conference.
“The general view in Westminster is there will be another compromise and it will be at least another two or three years before duty-free is scrapped.
“Tony Blair has convinced enough of his fellow European leaders it would be unjust to scrap duty-free in the present climate, and getting rid of duty-free would have a serious impact on jobs and on prices generally within the aviation and travel world.”
The Duty-Free Confederation estimates that 140,000 jobs will go if duty-free is abolished within the European Union.
Currently duty-free is scheduled to go at the end of June. The issue will be discussed at a meeting in Cologne of the 15 heads of states scheduled for June 3 and 4.
The Duty-Free Confederation is confident the outcome will be in its favour.