Case for a windfall tax overwhelming

OIL company BP has reported a profit of $6.2 billion (£4.9 billion), due to ‘exceptional oil and gas trading’, a massive rise on the $2.6 billion posted for the same period last year.

No wonder chief executive Bernard Looney, right, described the energy market as a ‘cash machine.’

In April household energy bills went up by 54 per cent with another, even steeper rise in the autumn; as a result the Resolution Foundation estimates another 1.5 million people will be tipped into poverty.

Between the huge profits made by BP and other energy companies and the millions of people, who even if they are not in poverty are certainly anxious about how big their next bill is going to be, is a gulf of worry and, for some, despair.

The case for a ‘windfall tax’ on the profits energy companies and other businesses that have profited from the difficulties we have all been through over the past couple of years is now overwhelming.

Claims that levying one will harm the economy do not hold water; not when the fabric of society is at risk, which it surely is if public anger at corporate greed and Government inertia tips over into political extremism.

The companies that have made money while their customers were locked down and now stand to make even more must be made to pay for the social impact of their profits.

The money raised by a windfall tax should be used to provide support for those who must decide between heating and eating now and may not be able to afford to do either come autumn in the first instance. Investment should also be made in renewable energy and insulating the country’s draughty homes. Regardless of what Mr Looney might think, the energy market is not a ‘cash machine’ energy is a natural resource that must be managed for the good of all, not the profits of the lucky few.

ADAM COLCLOUGH PENKHULL