Scottish parties have slammed the Tories after they announced they will remove the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies if prices fall. The UK Government said it would slash the current 75 per cent tax on profits back to its regular 40 per cent if prices reach certain levels.
The windfall tax has already been criticised by Labour for not working properly, as an investment loophole allows corporations to avoid it. The Scottish Lib Dems said the move shows the Tories “simply doesn’t care about the people who are struggling to get by” while the Greens called it “devastating”.
The UK Government said it would scrap the windfall tax if the average price of oil fell to or below 71.40 dollars per barrel for two consecutive quarters, and the average price of gas fell to under 54p. On Friday morning, Brent crude oil was trading at 75.38 dollars per barrel. UK gas prices were at around 64p per therm.
