Labour MPs back tax grab on energy firms

Published Date: 19 August 2008
By Jonathan Reed Political Editor
CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling is under increasing pressure from Labour MPs to introduce a one-off windfall tax on energy companies.
More than 60 Labour backbenchers have signed up to calls by pressure group Compass for the Government to introduce the levy amid anger at the profits made on the back of soaring global oil and energy prices.More than 30 MPs have also written dire
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ctly to Mr Darling calling for the tax after Leeds North East MP Fabian Hamilton wrote to every member of the Parliamentary party urging them to contact the Chancellor.Mr Brown and Mr Darling have been under pressure from backbenchers to introduce a windfall tax as part of an economic recovery plan, expected in the autumn, to help families struggling to pay soaring fuel bills.Mr Hamilton said the "excessive" profits made by energy companies purely because of rising prices were "obscene" and the levy was fair.Supporters of the idea point to precedents in the 1997 tax imposed by the new Labour Government on unearned profits of the newly privatised utilities, while in 1981 the Tories levied a windfall tax on the main clearing banks.The Compass group argues that the money should be used on help for those struggling with bills and for a national programme of home energy efficiency and installing renewable energy.Mr Hamilton said: "You would expect the majority of MPs to be supportive of this. We're not saying take their profits away forever, we're not saying make them earn less than they earned last year."