Valerie Vaz MP calls for Windfall Tax to ease cost of living crisis

“On Tuesday 17 May 2022 I spoke in the debate on the Gracious Speech (the Queen’s Speech) to call for a windfall tax on oil and gas profits as the best way to ease people out of the cost of living crisis, and I voted for a motion to compel the Government to introduce the tax, but the Government voted it down.

Living standards are set to fall by the largest amount in a single year since records began in the 1950saccording to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The Resolution Foundation have predicted the average household will be £1,200 worse off this year. The oil and gas companies have said they have “more cash than we know what to do with” and BP’s CEO has said that a windfall tax would not affect any of their investments.

A windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies could raise £2 billion. This could be used to cut average energy bills by £200 per household by cancelling VAT on bills for a year, and up to £600 to households most in need of support by expanding the Warm Homes Discount to 9 million people.

Money is available to support people. The Government lost£8.7 billion in 2020/21 on PPE that was unusable, past its sell by date, or overpriced, and lost £11.8 billion to fraud through Covid support schemes.The Government’s own Minister for counter-fraud Lord Agnew said that the early months of the pandemic were“happy days if you were a crook”.

My constituents are faced with an increase in mortgages, fuel prices, food prices and energy costs; they are all going up.Our constituents deserve better.This may be anew Gracious Speech, but it is the same old Government incompetence.”