Easier pricing for mobile calls and plane tickets

12.53.07am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 7th Aug 2007

The cost of holidays will be clearer and overseas mobile phone calls cheaper thanks to action by Chelmsford's Lib Dem Euro MP Andrew Duff and his colleagues. Many airlines continue to advertise misleading prices that don't reflect the final cost of plane tickets and MEPs have voted to ban this. Furthermore, mobile phone companies have to cut the amount they charge for making and receiving calls by 70%.

When people go on holiday abroad, they will see that instead of paying something like £2 a minute simply for receiving a call, they will now only be charged around 16p a minute. There will also a massive reduction in the cost of making a call when abroad - down to 34p a minute this summer, and even cheaper next year.

Said Mr Duff, "Lib Dem MEPs have voted for a fairer deal for consumers across Europe. Chelmsford residents had been exploited and manipulated by these companies for far too long. Mobile phone users should feel the benefits of the single market and not be penalised simply for crossing a border."