It is “perfectly reasonable” to tax people if they take more than one flight a year, the co-leader of the Green Party has told Sky News.

Sian Berry told Sophy Ridge On Sunday that when it comes to climate change “public concern on this has never been higher”.

“It’s really important we do what’s necessary, not just what’s politically convenient,” she said.

A flagship Green Party policy is for Britain to be carbon-neutral by 2030, with a key area of focus the impact aviation has on the environment.

Ms Berry, who revealed that she last took a flight in 2005, said: “One of the policies we support is not to expand any airports in the UK, to make do with the plenty of capacity that we already have.

“One way of reducing demand for air travel is a frequent-flyer levy.

“That would allow everybody to take one flight a year for no extra tax and then it increases a lot for people who take more flights.”

When asked if individuals should be looking at only taking one flight a year, Ms Berry replied: “One flight a year seems perfectly reasonable to me – and this is the kind of thing we’re looking at.”

She was speaking in the weeks the Greens launched their campaign for the European elections on 23 May.

The party is urging voters to back their message of “yes to Europe” and “no to climate chaos”.

The Greens currently have three MEPs and will be hoping to use their best ever performance in the local elections last week as a springboard for further success.

Ms Berry said the party was “really excited” about the elections and that polls show them “making gains in more regions”.

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