Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has said he is “deeply disappointed” that the Chancellor extended the windfall tax on oil and gas firms, branding the decision from Jeremy Hunt as a “step in the wrong direction”.
Mr Ross spoke out after the UK Chancellor confirmed the levy would now remain in place until 2029.
“So I will extend the sunset on the Energy Profits Levy for an additional year to 2029, raising £1.5 billion.”
Overall the Treasury said spending decisions in the Budget would see the Scottish Government receive an additional £295 million in 2024-25, with Scottish Secretary Alister Jack saying this cash would be “in addition to the largest block grant since devolution began”.
But business leaders in the north-east of Scotland warned of the impact of extending the windfall tax could have, claiming the move “is bad for jobs, bad for investment, bad for energy security and bad for the energy transition”.
Ryan Crighton, the policy director at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is the fourth Tory tax raid on the North Sea in two years and heaps more uncertainty on a sector which needs stability to survive.”
The Scottish Conservative leader said: “The SNP and Labour have abandoned 100,000 Scottish workers by calling for the taps in the North Sea to be turned off now.
“Although the UK Government rightly oppose this reckless policy – and have granted new licences for continued production in the North Sea – the Budget announcement is a step in the wrong direction”.
He said that “hardworking Scottish families will see more money in their pockets with a second national insurance cut” – with a 2p reduction anounced for April that will be worth an average of £450 for workers and £350 for the self-employed.
It will be the second reduction in the levy this year – with a similar 2p cut having already come into force in January.
We’re cutting taxes again, with a further 2% cut in National Insurance – from 12% in November to 8% in April.
Taken together with the measures at the Autumn Statement, that means someone on the average salary will save around £900 a year. pic.twitter.com/NRmrB7aeZN
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) March 6, 2024
Mr Jack went on to welcome the freeze in fuel duty aand the freeze in spirits duty, which he said would “boost our biggest export, whisky”.
With the Budget also promising up to £10 million of investment for the SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland the UK Government minister said this “puts Scotland ahead in the new space race” as he spoke about the “exciting prospect of a first satellite launch before too long”.
She said: “The richest quarter of workers benefit 14 times more than the poorest quarter from the national insurance cut.”
Citizens Advice Scotland complained there was a “complete absence of the kind of support those on lower incomes need” in the Chancellor’s statement.
The charity’s social justice spokesperson Emma Jackson said: “This Budget failed to meet the scale of the challenge of the cost-of-living crisis, and the legacy of debt and destitution it will leave.”
