Comment from Stop Cambo on the absence of a windfall tax on oil and gas profits in the Chancellor's Spring Statement:
"The eye watering rise in the price of oil and gas is why a quarter of UK households won’t be able to pay their energy bills this Autumn, and yet the oil and gas companies, who are swimming in profits, have not been asked to put their hand in their pocket to help."
"Sunak’s calculation that these companies will act to benefit the UK public rather than their shareholders’ pockets is fundamentally misconceived."
"North Sea production won’t make any difference to people’s energy bills, a fact the government admits. And most of it – the oil from Cambo included – will be exported abroad and the profits pocketed. Further, it will only make the impacts of the climate crisis, which are already hurting people across the UK, worse."
"While countries in Europe are powering past gas with cheaper renewables and energy efficiency, the Chancellor has listened to the whispering of the oil and gas industry and chosen to protect their profits over alleviating the anxiety and improving the lives of UK families who are facing the biggest fall in living standards since the 1950s."
"This is the Chancellor caving in to an industry addicted to profit, not a plan for helping ordinary people facing unbearable choices."
-ENDS
March 23, 2022
