In a week where former Prime Minister Gordon Brown railed against a “global network of wealthy and powerful men that thinks it can act with impunity,” the Tony Blair Institute issues a report calling for the axing the Windfall Tax, as part of a reset on energy policy. Simon Francis responds.

The Tony Blair Institute’s so-called ‘reset’ looks less like a fresh start and more like a defence of fossil fuels and an energy industry that has made over £125bn in UK profits since 2020.

BP’s latest profits are another reminder that energy giants continue to lock in billions while households face a fifth winter of hardship. These corporate windfalls do not occur by accident, they reflect a system where profits flow out to shareholders as millions live in cold, damp homes.

For the Institute to call for the Windfall Tax to be scrapped, while energy giants post extraordinary profits, is staggering. That tax exists because companies benefited from a crisis that devastated household finances. 

Removing the Windfall Tax would reward profiteering and shift the burden back onto households that are still paying the price of Britain’s over-reliance on gas. 

It was exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets that sent bills through the roof, not climate targets and doubling down on new North Sea exploration will not lower bills. 

Gas is sold at international prices and the North Sea is a declining geological resource that cannot meet the country’s heating needs in the long term. The answer to high bills lies in accelerating homegrown renewables, reforming electricity pricing and investing in energy efficiency, not returning to the solutions of the past.

Simon Francis is Coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition.

Tessa Khan, Executive Director of Uplift, adds:

BP is still making billions in profits while so many UK households continue to struggle with unaffordable energy bills.

These results – on the back of Shell and Equinor’s profits last week – are a stark reminder why we as a country urgently need to move away from volatile oil and gas by developing more homegrown renewable energy that would shield households from global price shocks and create stable, long-term jobs.

BP is moving away from renewables  just at a time when the costs of climate change are becoming clear to everyone – whether that’s people struggling with flooded homes and rising food prices, or farmers and businesses losing income from extreme weather.

BP is also turning its back on the UK’s energy workers who, as the North Sea basin declines, need secure energy jobs that have a future. This is a company that puts its profits above all else.

Image: https://milestonemagazine.com/3-global-businesses-that-have-thrived-during-the-pandemic/ Licence: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed