SCOTLAND’S Energy Secretary has given qualified backing to a windfall tax on oil and gas companies as hard up Scots face “life or death” decisions as a result of the energy price rise.
Michael Matheson said he was “not against the idea entirely” of a one-off tax on energy giants posting record profits as utility costs soar but insisted it must be done in a “fair and reasonable way”.
He was quizzed by Martin Geissler on The Sunday Show on the measures the Scottish Government was taking to combat the fuel price crisis.
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Geissler questioned why SNP MPs had not backed a Labour proposal earlier this week to tax North Sea oil and gas firms.
He said: “Shell quadrupled their profits this week to £14 billion. Why are we favouring those companies over hard up Scots who could face life or death decisions?”
Matheson claimed such a move could push up “fuel costs even further”.
He added: “The reality here is the levels to tackle this issue are with the UK Government and we’ve [seen] the proposals this week and they’re wholly inadequate to deal with the level and scale of the crisis we’re facing.”
Earlier in the programme, Audrey Flanagan of the Glasgow South East Foodbank said she was concerned “we will see people die” as a result of the energy price crisis.
Households are facing the worst fall in living standards since comparable records in three decades since comparable records began in 1990.
Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, warned last week the cost of living crisis could last until next year.
Inflation has soared to 5.4% while food prices have risen steeply and energy bills are set to increase by 54%.
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The measures introduced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak including a £200 loan for energy bills have been blasted as a “sticking plaster”.
Echoing calls from the SNP’s shadow chancellor Alison Thewliss earlier in the week, Matheson demanded the UK Government turn the loan into a grant so people would not need to repay from next April.
He also outlined the measures taken by the Scottish Government to help cash-strapped households weather the crisis.
He said: “We have one of the most heat efficiency programmes in the UK, we’re investing £1.8bn in energy efficiency measures over the course of this Parliament alone, that’s a record increase in the budget to help reduce the demand for energy as well.”
SNP MPs did not vote for a motion put forward by Labour’s shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband which called on the UK Government to raise £1.2bn through a one-off tax on oil and gas firms.
Stephen Flynn said Miliband “failed to recognise that the last time the UK Government implemented a windfall tax, 10 years or so ago, investment in the North sea oil and gas sector plummeted”.
He warned his constituents in Aberdeen employed in the energy sector feared for their jobs should their firms be taxed more.
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