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The whole idea that this could all have been funded from a windfall tax pretty much came from Labour, which is how they're relevant. Also, the fact check I link

by makomk 4y ago

The whole idea that this could all have been funded from a windfall tax pretty much came from Labour, which is how they're relevant. Also, the fact check I linked to specifically addressed the "investment loophole" - closing it's not even close to enough money. The claim that the price cap could be funded from windfall taxes really, heavily relied on Labour playing sneaky tricks with ending their proposed price cap in April and the media not calling them out on it (along with other dodgy accounting tricks, and more recently them pointing to Shell's global profits as proof the existing windfall tax isn't aggressive enough even though they only proposed to tax UK profits).

tankenmate 4y ago
This is nothing to do with Labour; they haven't been in government for well over a decade. The first UK windfall tax targeted on oil companies was in 1983 under Thatcher / Lord Lawson; so the party that recommends it depends more on what oil prices are doing rather than whether there is a left or right government in power. Whether it will or won't cover all the costs doesn't really matter either, because everyone knows what the quality of economic forecasts are variable at best; you can't control an economy (no matter how much some Communist governments tried), but you can influence it with taxes / subsidies. What matters is the benefits and costs. The main issue is that the UK economy is suffering under supply side inflation, and the usual tricks don't really work too well. The BoE have to be careful as during stagflation rate changes have larger than normal impacts; far more of a tightrope that usual. The UK has several supply side issues beyond other countries; no natural gas reserves (they were sold by the Tories / Osborne), and Brexit. And so the UK is in a tighter strait jacket; and the current results / forecasts for the GDP reflect that.

by makomk 4y ago

tankenmate 4y ago

This is nothing to do with Labour; they haven't been in government for well over a decade. The first UK windfall tax targeted on oil companies was in 1983 under Thatcher / Lord Lawson; so the party that recommends it depends more on what oil prices are doing rather than whether there is a left or right government in power. Whether it will or won't cover all the costs doesn't really matter either, because everyone knows what the quality of economic forecasts are variable at best; you can't control an economy (no matter how much some Communist governments tried), but you can influence it with taxes / subsidies. What matters is the benefits and costs. The main issue is that the UK economy is suffering under supply side inflation, and the usual tricks don't really work too well. The BoE have to be careful as during stagflation rate changes have larger than normal impacts; far more of a tightrope that usual. The UK has several supply side issues beyond other countries; no natural gas reserves (they were sold by the Tories / Osborne), and Brexit. And so the UK is in a tighter strait jacket; and the current results / forecasts for the GDP reflect that.