Labour calls for all MPs to vote on one-off windfall tax
The Labour Party is calling on all MPs to vote in favour of a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producers as the cost of living crisis continues to bite into Brits’ pockets.
The amendment will be proposed tomorrow morning during the Queen’s Speech debate and it follows an analysis published yesterday by the party which shows that expected profits made by North Sea oil and gas firms for 2022/2023 will be higher than the UK’s total rise in energy bills.
“Today, Labour will give MPs another chance to support our one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits to bring down bills,” said Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate change and net zero secretary.
“This fair and principled measure now has support from business, trade unions, across the political spectrum and most importantly, the overwhelming majority of the public.
“Conservative MPs must now join the British people in calling for a windfall tax – or explain why they continue to oppose measures that would ease the cost-of-living crisis.”
The announcement comes as pressure continues to mount on the government to impose the tax.
Last week, Tesco’s chairman John Allan told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that there was an “overwhelming case”, saying the country was facing “real food poverty for the first time in a generation,” and that people were finding it even harder to mitigate soaring energy costs, City PM reported.
“There’s an overwhelming case for a windfall tax on profits for those energy producers, fed back to those most in need of help with energy prices,” he said.
Despite mounting pressures, Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued that introducing a windfall tax could deter businesses from investing in the UK, while Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the BBC on Friday he would be “pragmatic about it.”