Labour call for windfall tax on oil and gas profits

Train ticket price rises and increases to water charges should be shelved with more targeted support to ease the cost of living crisis paid for by a windfall tax on gas and oil firms’ profits, Scottish Labour has said.

The party will lead a debate at Holyrood on Thursday calling for the Scottish and UK governments to support people affected by soaring living costs Labour says will “devastate family finances”.

Among its demands, Scottish Labour wants a £400 payment targeted at households in financial difficulty that would be paid for by a “one-off windfall tax on increased oil and gas profits”.

The UK Government will also be urged to cut VAT on home energy bills for 12 months as gas and electricity prices rise and the price cap is expected to be raised to almost £2000 per year for the average household.

It is estimated that removing VAT would save families £200.

Ahead of the debate in the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Thousands of Scottish households are looking down the tracks at a cost of living crisis which will devastate family finances.

“With energy and other household bills set to rise, food prices soaring, and the Tories set to raise national insurance payments, the time has come to act.

“Labour’s proposals would deliver clear and concrete support for Scots in financial hardship and would ensure that those most in need are not made to pay the price of the cost of living crisis.

“There is more that the Scottish and UK governments could do to support Scots in need, but we need them to work together to protect our interests and we need them to act urgently.

“Today we are calling on all parties to support Labour’s proposals and put the people of Scotland first.”

The motion proposed by Scottish Labour calls for MSPs to recognise the financial burden of rising inflation, increasing food and fuel prices, and high energy bills and states that “this will be exacerbated by the increase to national insurance, the likely hike to the energy price cap in April 2022, and the rises in Scotland to rail fares and water charges”, and for the Scottish Government to act.

It adds there should be “extra targeted support to those who need it most, including pensioners and low earners, by expanding and increasing the warm home discount, giving those households an additional £400 off energy bills, and agrees that this should be paid for by a one-off windfall tax on increased oil and gas profits”.