Labour: No 10 must close £17bn windfall tax loophole

Labour has accused the government of botching” its windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies by leaving loopholes that the party calculates will cost the public finances £17bn.

- ANDREW WOODCOCK POLITICAL EDITOR

In a challenge to Jeremy Hunt, Labour is tabling an amendment to the bill enacting the chancellor's autumn statement, demanding that he spell out the full cost of windfall tax allowances for fossil fuel firms.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the sums which could be raised by ditching the allowance - as well as backdating the windfall tax to the start of 2022 and matching Norway's 78 per cent levy on its North Sea firms - was the equivalent of three years' turnover for the UK wind power industry and could pay for the insulation of 6 million homes. Her comments came as pressure mounted on Rishi Sunak to lift the effective ban on onshore windfarms in England.

Some 32 Conservatives have now signed a rebel amendment to allow onshore developments, with former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries, Wendy Morton and Julian Knight bringing the tally close to the number needed to inflict Mr Sunak's first Commons defeat as PM. And a rival Labour amendment could go further, placing a duty on local authorities to identify potential sites for turbines.