Johnson rules out windfall tax on the energy giants posting record profits

BORIS Johnson has said he will not impose a windfall tax on UK energy giants despite BP posting huge profits.

The company made £5billion in underlying profits in the first three months of this year – its best results for 1 years – as oil and gas prices soared.

The results put pressure on the Prime Minister to introduce a one-off windfall tax as households struggle with energy bills and the soaring cost of living.

But insisting that such a move would discourage investment in the UK and cost jobs, he said: ‘If you put a windfall tax on the energy companies, what that means is that you discourage them from making the investments that we want to see that will, in the end, keep energy prices lower for everybody.’

He added: ‘We have a short-term hit caused by the spike in energy prices across the world. If we respond by driving up prices and costs across the board in this country, responding by the Government stepping in and driving up inflation, that will hit everybody.’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘With so many people struggling to pay their energy bills, we should have a windfall tax on oil and gas companies in the North Sea who have made more profit than they were expecting.’

The Liberal Democrats backed the proposal, with leader Ed Davey describing Mr Johnson’s refusal as ‘an unforgivable lack of leadership’.