Rishi Sunak hints at U-turn on UK oil and gas windfall tax

theguardian.com:

Rishi Sunak has opened the door to a windfall tax on oil and gas companies despite previously dismissing the policy, as Labour accused the government of burying its head in the sand over spiralling bills.

The chancellor hinted at a possible U-turn on a tax on oil and gas providers, having repeatedly refused to countenance the idea in the past when suggested by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

It comes as Keir Starmer branded Boris Johnson the “Comical Ali of the cost of living crisis”, suggesting the government was in denial about the financial pressures facing households and bereft of new ideas.

Speaking to Mumsnet, Sunak said he had not gone down the road of a windfall tax because he did not want to put off investment in new oil and gas extraction, highlighting a recent £25bn investment by one company in the North Sea.

But he added: “What I would say is that if we don’t see that type of investment coming forward and companies are not going to make those investments in our country and energy security, then of course that’s something I would look at and nothing is ever off the table in these things.”

Hours earlier, Dominic Raab had dismissed the idea of a windfall tax as “disastrous” and “damaging”, while Boris Johnson rejected it at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions as a “tax on business”.

However, the Tories are coming under intense pressure over their lack of ideas on how to deal with inflation running at more than 7% and energy bills soaring even higher.

Johnson held a brainstorming cabinet meeting on Tuesday where ministers suggested relaxing rules on how many children can be cared for by nursery staff and allowing less frequent MOTs to help people save money.

But the ideas were criticised as inadequate by Labour,