Whitehall polling suggests eight-in-ten back ‘wildly popular’ windfall tax

Internal government polling has found support for a windfall tax on the profits of energy firms is “wildly” popular. 

Research in Whitehall outlined that 80 per cent of those asked would back the move, as Rishi Sunak said yesterday “no option is off the table” if companies fail to invest in the UK’s energy sector.

He told the House of Commons that energy companies need to invest their “extraordinary profits” back into “British jobs, growth and energy security.”

The Telegraph reported that in the research, voters viewed big energy firms as “corporate cowboys”, amid pressure from Labour.

The Opposition has been pushing for a vote on a windfall tax in Parliament, with the opposition calling for a one-off £1.2bn levy on North Sea oil and gas traders to help shave £600 from household energy bills.

This morning, foreign secretary Liz Truss told Sky News she was against a windfall tax because it might deter investment, and big firms such as BP, should be spending money on renewables instead. 

The UK registered 40-year high inflation this morning, at nine per cent, as calls were made to ease the cost of living crisis, including through the windfall tax on energy firms.