Sir John Major calls for excess profits tax on ‘big six’ energy companies
The genie is out of the bottle – since the deregulation of the energy market Government doesn’t have any levers to pull to stop this sort of greed and the politicians are frustrated and toothless on all sides of the philosophical divide. In the meantime rural people grow older, colder and hungrier and even John Major has come off the fence. This article tells us:
Sir John Major, the former Conservative prime minister, has said there is a case for an excess profits tax on the big six energy companies. He said the money could be used to help the poor as they struggle with massive energy bills this winter.
He claimed many people this winter will face a choice between eating or staying warm.
His remarks at a press gallery lunch in Westminster will be a severe political shock to Downing Street, which has insisted there is nothing the government can do to combat rising energy prices except urge consumers to shop around for cheaper tariffs or foster greater competition in the market.
The former Tory leader described recent hikes in electricity and gas bills of approximately 10% as “unacceptable”.
He argued that the coalition needed to show that it was supporting “people, not institutions”.
The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has dominated the political debate on energy prices since his party conference speech promising a 20-month price freeze if he is elected in 2015.