Families across the country are facing a budget catastrophe as rises in energy bills swamp increases in their pay, benefits and pensions. Yeovil Labour Party is calling on the government to introduce a windfall tax on energy profits and a package of measures to help us keep up with rising bills saying “It’s already been confirmed that energy bills are going up by more than 50 per cent. This unprecedented hike will leave families facing an average annual bill of £2,000. Bills will rise again in October. In contrast, wages are predicted to rise by no more than 5.2 per cent this year, while benefits and pensions are going up by just 3.1 per cent.”
Yeovil Labour Party Chairman Terry Ledlie said “Local families are being badly hit and deserve better, says Yeovil Constituency Labour Party, who are calling for the Chancellor to come back to parliament and put it right in an emergency budget. With real incomes now way below 2010 levels, the government should help us keep up with rising prices. There should be further minimum wage increase in the autumn and a real boost to pensions, Universal Credit and benefits”
Calls for Windfall Tax on Energy
Terry continued “The local Labour Party, echoes the call from the shadow business secretary Rachel Reeves for a windfall tax on energy profits to fund grants to help with the cost of energy. Public services and energy intensive industries need more help too. The Office of National Statistics says that the inflation crisis is coming “principally from electricity, gas and other fuels”, leading to rapidly rising profits for companies such as BP. A windfall tax is a one-off levy on companies enjoying unexpected profits. It is simply wrong that our surging energy bills are contributing to oil and gas companies making billions of pounds for no extra investment or effort. This is deeply unfair, yet the government has refused to act.”
“The crisis families are facing isn’t inevitable. I hope that our local Conservative MPs will join me in saying that It’s time for the Chancellor to step up and help, as soaring bills are pushing our backs against the wall. The case for a windfall tax is now unanswerable. Every day that goes by while the government does nothing means more sleepless nights for millions of people.” Said Terry