Reeves should scrap the North Sea windfall tax now

2026-03-04 - 18:42

The UK should optimise North Sea oil and gas production while it transfers to renewables and nuclear developments The chancellor’s failure to reform or remove the energy profits levy (EPL) – aka the North Sea windfall tax – in her spring statement was a case of “political expediency and more to do with putting one byelection result ahead of the economic needs of the country”. Who said that? Some Tory or Reform politician being opportunist as war in Iran puts the UK’s energy import dependency in the spotlight? Actually, no, it was the general secretary of the GMB union, Gary Smith, on Wednesday, demonstrating once again that views on the North Sea oil and gas do not fit neatly into a left/right divide. He has been making the principled case for an orderly transition in energy for ages, warning that decarbonising via deindustrialising costs jobs and will end up pushing voters rightwards. Continue reading...