Oil and Gas Producers: Windfall Tax

Alexander Stafford Excerpts

Tuesday 1st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Edward Miliband]

I am very proud of the investments that the last Labour Government made in our public services.

[Alexander Stafford (Rother Valley) (Con)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Edward Miliband]

No, I am going to make progress.

The truth is—we cannot get away from it—that the Conservatives are a party bankrolled to the tune of nearly £5 million by oil and gas interests since 2016. Bankrolled by oil and gas executives, they cannot act on behalf of the British people.

Let me end by saying this. The British people are fed up with what they have seen from the Government in recent months. They want a Government who are on their side. They want a Government who will act for them. That is why we need a windfall tax. It is a test of whose side they are on, and whose side we are all on in this House—on the side of gas and oil companies making billions of profits, or on the side of millions of struggling families. We know whose side we are on. If this Government were truly on the side of the British people, they would act, and that is why I urge Members on both sides of the House to vote for our motion tonight.