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Related: Chancellor increases energy windfall tax to raise extra £14bn
Rishi Sunak is likely to face his first defeat in the House of Commons as prime minister, after several Conservative MPs signed Labour’s amendment to a bill demanding chancellor Jeremy Hunt spell out the full cost of windfall tax allowances for fossil fuel firms.
This comes as Labour accused the government of “botching” its windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies by leaving holes that, according to party estimates, are likely to cost £17bn to the exchequer.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had announced the windfall tax on oil and gas giants will increase from 25 per cent to 35 per cent and extend the tax to 2028, having faced pressure to increase the Energy Profits Levy, as it is known.
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the sums which could be raised by ditching the allowance – as well as backdating the windfall tax to the start of 2022 and matching Norway’s 78 per cent levy on its North Sea firms – was the equivalent of three years’ turnover for the UK wind power industry and could pay for the insulation of 6 million homes.
Britain must be a ‘world leader’ in justice for Ukraine, Olena Zelenska tells MPs
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has urged Britain to become a global leader in helping her country achieve “justice” against Russia, as she addressed an audience of MPs and peers that included Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer.
The speech, in a parliamentary committee room, came as part of a visit to London by Ms Zelenska as she urged the UK and other allies to seek justice against alleged Russian war crimes.
Her visit focused on the use of sexual violence and rape by Russian forces in the months-long war, which is now heading into a long winter.
More about her speech in this report:
Namita Singh30 November 2022 06:30
UK car industry pleads for government action to secure future
The British car industry is warning government that “rapid action” is needed to secure the long term future of what is still a major part of the economy, and a major employer and exporter.
The industry has had to contend with the demands of Brexit and the pandemic in recent years, as well as the war in Ukraine and its knock-on economic impact on disposable incomes.
Lately, the severe shortage of semi-conductors from China and Taiwan, which has stymied recoveries in production levels, has begun to ease, and sales and revenues have picked up.
However, the industry now faces fresh challenges, reports our associate editor Sean O’Grady:
Namita Singh30 November 2022 06:10
Ambulance workers to strike before Christmas
Ambulance workers across England are set to strike before Christmas after voting in favour of industrial action over pay and staffing levels.
Unison said thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West are to be called out on strike.
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The decision to take action and lose a day’s pay is always a tough call. It’s especially challenging for those whose jobs involve caring and saving lives.
“But thousands of ambulance staff and their NHS colleagues know delays won’t lessen, nor waiting times reduce, until the government acts on wages. That’s why they’ve taken the difficult decision to strike.”
Namita Singh30 November 2022 05:50
Britain’s world standing ‘badly tarnished’ since Brexit, says David Miliband
Britain’s international standing in a turbulent world has been severely tarnished through delusions, hubris and a cavalier attitude to the rule of law, former foreign secretary David Miliband has warned.
The actions of successive British governments since Brexit and assumptions of superiority have left the country with the task of rebuilding trust and credibility with the European Union and wider afield, he said.
Where has Britain’s geopolitical strategy gone awry, our world affairs editor Kim Sengupta reports:
Namita Singh30 November 2022 05:30
Students face ‘hardship’ as botched inflation rise leaves them £1,000 worse off
England’s poorest students will lose £1,000 because the government botched inflation forecasts, experts say, plunging them into “significant hardship”.
It means students who rely on the loans to live while studying will be “left in the cold”, even as other groups receive extra financial help, the Institute for Fiscal Studies is warning.
Deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports:
Namita Singh30 November 2022 05:10
Former head of UK counter-terror policing calls Suella Braverman’s comments on migrants ‘inexplicable’
The former head of UK counter-terror policing has called Suella Braverman’s language on migrants “inexplicable” and compared it to Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, who is the country’s most senior non-white police officer, said the racist and anti-immigration address in 1968 had made his parents’ lives “hell” as a mixed-race couple.
In an interview with Channel 4 News before his departure from Scotland Yard, he was asked about Ms Braverman’s statement that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda was her “dream”.
Read the details in this report from our home affairs editor Lizzie Dearden:
Namita Singh30 November 2022 04:50
Labour calls on government to close £17bn ‘loopholes’ in energy windfall tax
Labour today accused the government of “botching” its windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies by leaving loopholes which the party calculates will cost the public finances £17bn.
In a challenge to Jeremy Hunt, Labour is today tabling an amendment to the bill enacting the chancellor’s autumn statement, demanding that he spell out the full cost of windfall tax allowances for fossil fuel firms.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:
Namita Singh30 November 2022 04:40
Welcome to The Independent’s UK politics blog for Wednesday, 30 November 2022, where we provide the latest from Westminster.
Namita Singh30 November 2022 04:24
