Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has doubled down on the decision to retain the windfall tax, insisting it was the “right choice” despite a growing backlash from the North Sea sector.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce warned the Chancellor was seeking to “tax the industry to death inside five years”, while First Minister John Swinney said the move would have “disastrous consequences” for the North-east.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended her stance, telling BBC Radio Scotland: “I do believe it is right to ask those companies to continue paying a little bit more… and use that money to fund public services in Scotland.”
Mr Sarwar said a “balanced approach” was needed to recognise the ongoing role of oil and gas while investing in the transition, adding: “If others want to suggest that oil and gas giants should get a tax cut… then I think that’s a really hard argument for the SNP to make.”
Russell Borthwick, Chief Executive at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “We’ll accept no lessons in fairness from a Chancellor who is inflicting financial hardship on thousands of families in energy communities throughout the UK.
"The oil and gas industry has financed UK public services for half a century - and will do so for decades more if it can escape being taxed out of existence by the UK Government.
“Amid the flurry of paperwork released after the Budget, the government mapped out exactly what it deems a windfall to be, and that is an oil price of around $97 a barrel. The oil price has not been that high for over three years, since October 2022, and that is why the Energy Profits Levy is so corrosive.
“So, we now have on the record – by the government’s own admission – that it is taxing windfalls that are not there. That is why there have been no North Sea wells for the first time since 1964, and that is why tens of thousands of people are going to lose their jobs."