ITV viewers slammed the prime minister for not tackling the real problem.
Andy Burnham has been slammed by Good Morning Britain viewers (Image: Getty)
Good Morning Britain viewers have accused Andy Burnham of avoiding the real problem following his latest announcement. The prime minister has said he is banning airlines from charging parents extra to sit with their children on flights. Burnham described the additional charges as a “rip off” and said he wants to scrap it to help people as cost of living pressures worsen, Ranvir Singh explained. Sharing further details was reporter Mahatir Pasha, who said families will see the announcement as “welcome news broadly” as they continue to feel frustrated with costs adding up when booking a holiday. While it is a positive announcement, it led viewers to speculate that airlines will only hike their prices up elsewhere.
“Attack the big problem of everyone trebling the cost of a holiday during school holidays,” one fumed as another commented: “Burnham’s an idiot, sounds good, but the airlines will just increase prices elsewhere.”
A third said: “This is a new EU policy & Burnham is gaslighting the British public by claiming he is banning airlines from these extra charges, it has to be implemented anyway.”
A fourth added: “Base prices will rise then.”
Mahatir told Ranvir and Kate Garraway: “The government is hoping that by next summer they will be banning UK airlines from charging parents or accompanying adults to sit with children under the age of 14.
“The Department of Transport says currently, an arrangement for a parent and a child to sit together could cost up to £104 on a return journey, and passengers will also be given greater flexibility to correct simple name errors on bookings for free.
“The government says these tweaks can sometimes cost up to £40.”
Burnham remarked: “Charging parents just to sit with their children is a rip off, plain and simple. And being hit with a hefty fee just for a spelling mistake on a booking form isn’t right either. People are fed up with these little charges that add up, so I am putting a stop to them.”
However, travel expert Simon Calder told Good Morning Britain that it is actually Europe who is leading the way in this situation.
“The UK is realising it has to align with the proposed changes that Europe is making to air passenger rights rules.”
He added that the new changes will be implemented next year, and MPs recognise that if the UK doesn’t follow suit, there will be “chaos”.