County Cllr Julie Gibson, the Lancashire Labour Group spokesperson for Economic Development has welcomed the Chancellor’s U-turn of a windfall tax.
The Chancellor recently announced a £15bn package which will be paid for by two revenue-raising measures. The first is a windfall tax – a levy on energy profits, the second, from increased borrowing.
“I welcome this announcement,” said Cllr Gibson said in a Labour Party statement, “but I was calling for this back in March when the Chancellor announced his Spring Statement. However, when I see and hear of people in West Lancashire who are struggling to make ends meet and facing difficult choices of heating their homes or feeding their families there is no doubt that this will help them. I do welcome the package and the provisions in it and I hope they will reach those who most need them.”
“I am, however, concerned at the time that it will take for this money to get to those most in need,” she continued. “For example, the help for energy bills will not be forthcoming until October. Just this week Ofgem announced that the price cap on standard annual household energy bills would rise by £800 in October, which comes on top of a £700 rise in April. By the end of October the average household energy bill will have increased by around £1500.00 per household – £400.00 will not go very far. The Chancellor could have helped people right now, by bringing back the £20.00 Universal Credit uplift or by uplifting benefits to the link with earnings.
“I do find it somewhat ironic that the package came just 24 hours after the Sue Gray report into lockdown parties in Downing Street was published and you could be forgiven for thinking it was an attempt to bounce the negative coverage off the headlines. But whatever the reason, the Chancellor has listened to Labour and acted on our concerns and this quite clearly shows when it comes to supporting people and kickstarting our economy, Labour is the party with the policies that deliver.”