Rishi Sunak ‘to expand windfall tax’ after Shell avoids levy despite profits soaring

Downing Street said ‘nothing is off the table’ ahead of the autumn budget on November 17 (Picture: Getty/Shutterstock)

Rishi Sunak is considering plans to expand the windfall tax on energy companies to help plug the multi-billion-pound hole in the country’s finances, it has been reported.

Climate activists and opposition MPs have been urging the new prime minister to go further as oil and gas giants continue to see their profits soar.

He and Jeremy Hunt are understood to be mulling an expansion of the levy that would see it potentially increased or widened to included renewable energy generators, the Telegraph reports.

Downing Street said ‘nothing is off the table’ ahead of the Chancellor’s autumn budget on November 17.

It comes after Shell avoided paying the levy despite a doubling of profits fuelled by soaring energy prices.

The British multinational adjusted its earnings for the three months to the end of September to £8.2 billion, twice that of the same period last year.

Having profited to the tune of nearly £10 billion earlier in the year, the company is on course for its most profitable year ever.

Mr Sunak, left, and Mr Hunt are believed to be considering plans to widen the levy (Picture: AP)

But despite this Shell does not expect to pay the windfall tax introduced by the Prime Minister while chancellor earlier this year because of its scale of investment.

Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said Shell’s profits are ‘further proof that we need a proper windfall tax to make the energy companies pay their fair share’.

‘Rishi Sunak’s existing plans are a pale imitation of Labour’s windfall tax and would see billions of pounds of taxpayer money go back into the pockets of oil and gas giants through ludicrous tax breaks,’ he said.

‘It tells you everything you need to know about whose side this Conservative Government is on that they refuse to back Labour’s proper windfall tax whilst working people, families, and pensioners suffer.’

Mr Sunak’s climate credentials were under scrutiny on Friday after he decided to snub Cop27, citing next month’s financial statement as one of the reasons he is unable to attend.

The move prompted a backlash from campaigners and the opposition, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeting: ‘Britain showing up to work with world leaders is an opportunity to grasp. Not an event to shun.’

Green MP Caroline Lucas said ‘shame on’ Mr Sunak, while Greenpeace UK said the move suggests Mr Sunak does not take climate change ‘seriously enough’.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said Mr Sunak was focusing on domestic issues including preparations for the autumn budget, which has been delayed from Monday to November 17.

She said the UK will be ‘fully represented’ by Cop26 President Alok Sharma and ‘other senior ministers’.

‘We remain committed to net zero and to leading international and domestic action to tackle climate change. The UK is forging ahead of many other countries on net zero,’ she said.

It comes as new polling indicates that the elevation of Mr Sunak to Conservative leader might have registered with approval among some voters.

New polling by YouGov put the Tories on 23% to Labour at 51%, a four percentage point bounce the Conservatives from a week ago.

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Climate activists and opposition MPs have been urging the new prime minister to go further as oil and gas giants continue to see their profits soar.