Comments on: Neal Lawson: The energy company lobbyist who now wants a windfall tax on the energy companies

By: Merseymike

Merseymike — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:24:42 +0000

Laughable? Well, Tom, think you may be laughing on the other side of your face when literally millions of voters don’t bother to vote for you next time.

I voted Labour in the last three elections – the last one with very great reluctance, but the provision of civil partnerships and the thought of PM Dracula was enough.

But just disliking the Tories isn’t enough. The goverrnment have run out of steam, they have no energy or vision, and like it or not, Brown is a disaster as PM. I didn’t agree with a lot of what Blair said, but he was a class act. Brown is simply the wrong person to be PM and you really need to wake up and realise it.

By: Letters From A Tory

Letters From A Tory — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:05:16 +0000

A windfall tax is completely unworkable. It only worked in 1997 because the energy companies were mostly British owned and had only recently been privatised. Labour are now dealing with massive multinational companies who earn most of their profits abroad, which the UK government has no right to touch. Furthermore, most of their profits have been handed out to shareholders or reinvested already – meaning that it is not taxable.

http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com

By: Miller 2.0

Miller 2.0 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:51:59 +0000

Predictably, my views on Compass differ, especially given the shocking state of plenty of other Labour movement organisations. When they release the votes for Labour First (or indeed whether or not it even has an exec… it’s like an old right version of the non-existent Socialist Action!) I’ll gladly make a complimentary post.

John Robertson’s approach seems entirely sensible. I say this having shelled out £200 a month to run a pre-payed standalone electric heater in a freezing flat all winter.

But one extra thing: can those of us who aren’t ‘families’ have some help too please?

By: Newspapers in a spin over windfall tax

Newspapers in a spin over windfall tax — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:31:18 +0000

[...] “As ever, the picture is slightly different to the one portrayed in the Sunday newspaper,” wrote Tom Watson on his popular blog. [...]

By: timf

timf — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:38:23 +0000

The pre-pay meter thing seriously needs sorting. I’ve had that three times on the doorstep in the last week. We promised to force the energy companies to take action if they didn’t do anything themselves and it’s time to make good on that.

By: RobT

RobT — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:51:49 +0000

I’m sure the electorate will much prefer politicians to be having “thoughtful positions” on these subjects rather than doing something positive. Gas and Electricity prices are hitting people hard,, and water companies are hinting that this is a gravy train they quite like the look of.

Shell announces record profits while pensioners worry over their fuel bills. Trouble is, ‘new Labour’ is in thrall to big business as much as the Tories.