SCOTLAND is “bankrolling” the UK-wide windfall tax on energy firms with 90 per cent of the funds raised being taken north of the Border, the SNP have claimed.
The announcement of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s energy support scheme on Thursday caused fury amongst environmental campaigners after it was revealed that fossil fuel firms will be given a 90% tax rebate if they ramp up production.
The move has been called “criminal” as many of the firms operating in the North Sea export the oil and gas outside of the UK, with the Scottish Greens pointing out that the scheme will penalise firms who decide to invest in renewables instead.
An analysis from the House of Commons Library shows that 90% of UK oil and gas sales come from Scottish waters, as last counted in 2019. The SNP say this means £4.5 billion of the £5bn the UK Government estimates the levy will raise will come from Scotland.
If this £4.5bn was retained in Scotland, the analysis shows it would give a cash boost of £1800 to each Scottish household to tackle rising energy costs. The SNP calculated this by dividing the £4.5bn total between Scotland’s 2.51 million households.
SNP Business spokesperson Stephen Flynn MP said: “Scotland is bankrolling the whole of the UK, as it is only thanks to Scotland’s huge energy resources that the UK Government is able to respond this way to their own Tory-made cost of living crisis.
“And what this also shows is that if Scotland was independent, the money raised from this windfall tax could deliver £1800 for every Scottish household but we will only get a small fraction of that under Westminster control.”
Flynn blasted the UK Government scrapping £1bn of carbon capture and storage investment and their refusal to match the £500m raised by the Scottish Government for the just transition fund in the north east of Scotland.
He added: “While the SNP government has used its limited powers to mitigate Tory cuts and deliver progressive support like the Scottish Child Payment, the Tory government has been taking money away from families by slashing Universal Credit and ramping up regressive taxes.
“The only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory cuts and escape the long-term damage of Brexit is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to build a fairer and more prosperous society.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The UK is a family, and one of the benefits of that is how we share our resources – our economy is stronger because we are a United Kingdom.
“The Energy Profits Levy will raise £5bn from the extraordinary profits oil and gas companies are seeing and help pay for support for millions of the most vulnerable households across the UK. The Scottish Government’s own official figures show that being part of the UK is worth more than £2200 every year for each person in Scotland.”
It comes as it was revealed that Sunak’s “criminal” energy plan will penalise firms who choose to invest in renewables over fossil fuels and give cash to wealthy second home owners.
The plans have caused fury amongst environmental campaigners who say the scheme will “lock us into unaffordable energy bills” by boosting reliance on fossil fuels.
There have also been concerns raised that large amounts of the fund will go to households who “don’t need” the support, whilst those on lower incomes will still struggle.
