Windfall tax on oil will at least ease cost of living pain

IT'S a sign of how much of a mess the Government has got itself into that a measure that should be both uncontroversial and obvious has instead become the subject of some of the most heated political rows in recent memory.

- Stephen Pollard

I'm referring to a windfall tax on energy companies.

According to reports, the Downing Street and Treasury (aka Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak) are arguing over whether the Government should introduce a one-off levy on oil companies' profits. No 10 and other ministers are reportedly saying that the idea is "un-conservative" and an attack on capitalism itself.

What nonsense. There is nothing remotely Left-wing about making sure that huge corporations do not make vast extra profits at the expense of consumers. That was certainly the view of that well-known Lefty Margaret Thatcher, whose government levied a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies in November 1980, followed in spring 1981 by one on banks.

This month, BP reported its first-quarter profits would be $6.2billion (£4.9billion) well over double the $2.6billion it made last year. This owes nothing to any new business, greater efficiency or reward for investment. It's a result of the pressures on demand for oil, firstly because of the move out of the pandemic and then because of the sanctions on Russia.

B \Y standing back and doing nothing while oil companies rake in extra profits, the Government is permitting the transfer of money from consumers to oil companies at the very time when consumers are struggling to cope. It is madness.