16m
26 May 2022

Energy firms face windfall tax after government U-turn

Political Editor

It sounds attractive but it doesn’t work. It’s disastrous – just a selection of what members of the cabinet said about a windfall tax in the last few weeks.

But now Rishi Sunak is hitting the oil and gas giants with a levy, prompting consternation among some Conservatives, but jubilation from anti-poverty campaigners.

The money raised will go towards paying rising energy bills.

The scale of the help may well divert attention from the prime minister’s partygate travails, and perhaps that might have been Downing Street’s intention.