The Chancellor has been called upon to impose a windfall tax on commercial banks to fund a £300 reduction in energy bills. Stephen Flynn, the SNP Westminster leader, has urged Rachel Reeves to adopt plans proposed by the IPPR think tank – based on a similar tax from Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s – which suggested such a levy would generate around £8 billion annually.
The SNP likened its proposals to the Energy Bills Support Scheme, which offered £400 payments under the previous Tory government. The total cost of the policy was nearly £11.4 billion, but the new scheme proposed by the SNP would cost approximately £8.15 billion, the party stated, due to the £300 payment and the fact that top-rate taxpayers in Scotland and the additional rate elsewhere in the UK would not receive the support.
Mr Flynn said: « This SNP Budget proposal would immediately right the wrong of the Labour Party’s broken promises on energy bills and put money directly into people’s pockets this winter. Cutting the public’s energy bills by £300 this winter is one promise the Labour Party can, should and must keep.
« This policy can be fully funded through the IPPR’s proposal, which would see a tax on the big banks to cut energy bills. Unfortunately, Rachel Reeves has been busy briefing that she intends to let the banks off the hook in her Budget, despite preaching to the public that ‘each of us must do our bit’ to plug the black hole she has created in the UK Treasury.
« People will rightly ask what the point of the Labour Party is, if they aren’t prepared to introduce a bank levy that even Margaret Thatcher thought was a good idea? Labour desperately needs to think again – they must back this SNP proposal to tax the big banks so that we can finally cut energy bills.
« Energy bills have spiralled out of control under successive Westminster governments which treat Scotland as an afterthought. Ultimately, it is only with the fresh start of independence that we can harness Scotland’s vast energy resources so that we can permanently bring bills down by finally putting Scotland’s energy in Scotland’s hands. »
He said that the everyday priorities of people have been « lost and ignored » due to the « chaos and the ongoing civil war in the Labour Party ».
Mr Flynn added: « Instead of the Labour Party fighting amongst themselves, people would be far better off if we were all focused on fighting to bring down energy bills this winter. For all the talk and speculation the Chancellor generated about breaking the Labour Party’s manifesto promises on tax, people equally haven’t forgotten the promises Keir Starmer made to them that his Government would cut their energy bills. Labour promised people at the general election that they would cut energy bills by £300 – everyone knows that they have instead gone up by nearly £200. »
The UK Government has been contacted for comment by the Press Association.
