Oil and Gas Producers: Windfall Tax

Debate between Lee Rowley and Emily Thornberry

Tuesday 1st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Lee Rowley]

I will come to that in a moment, just as I will come to the sedentary exhortations from the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry).

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

Get on with it.

[Lee Rowley]

If I were not being heckled, I might get on with it.

As most of the House knows, and as most reasonable people will accept, the recent rise in energy prices in the United Kingdom has largely been driven by the increase in the wholesale price of gas caused by growing demand and broader geopolitical issues as we emerge from the pandemic. Those price rises are visible across many parts of Europe and beyond, and they demonstrate the importance of long-term security of supply and energy resilience, to which I will return in a moment.

With that in mind, it is important to answer the questions that have been asked, although it was wholly absent from the speech of the right hon. Member for Doncaster North that the Government are already doing much to support those in the greatest need.