The chancellor said that if the big companies did not do more to protect energy security, then imposing an unexpected tax was “something I would look into”. The comments came during a Q&A session with users of the Mumsnet site, in which Mr Sunak, who has been embroiled in recent’s multimillion-dollar fortunes, urged them not to “judge” him by his bank account. . Mr Sunak’s comments suggest a split at the top of the government as Boris Johnson dismissed the Prime Minister’s questions as a “corporate tax” a few hours earlier, while Dominique Raab dismissed an unexpected tax as “catastrophic”. Johnson called for savings ideas for households on Tuesday, with cabinet ministers proposing relaxing rules on how many children can be cared for in daycare staff and allowing MOTs to be conducted every two years rather than annually. The chancellor has previously rejected Labor proposals to impose an unexpected tax on the growing profits of energy companies, driven by high oil and gas prices. However, there is growing concern about Russian threats to cut off gas supplies to Europe and rising energy bills, with the average household paying almost λί 700 more for gas and electricity this year. Asked about the prospect of taxing energy companies’ profits to reduce the cost-of-living crisis, Sunak said: “If we do not see this kind of investment coming, if companies are not going to invest in our energy security “Of course this is something I would look at.” Finance Ministry sources said Mr Sunak’s comments were intended as a “warning shot” to oil and gas companies to start investing heavily in the UK “soon”. Yesterday, the European Union appeared divided over how to respond to Russian “blackmail” to pay for gas imports in rubles, after Gazprom cut off deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria due to payments. Western governments want to deny Russia any territorial gains from its invasion of Ukraine, officials said, so far as the clearest indication of the magnitude of the defeat they want to impose on Moscow. Mr Sunak’s remarks are the first indication by the Treasury Department that it plans to help families likely to be hit by rapid household energy bills when the new price cap is set in October. Mr Sunak was summoned to this week’s cabinet meeting to cut taxes to help families cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
