Summary
THE Prime Minister's decision not to impose a windfall tax on the big energy companies, and to abandon a plan to give average families a rebate on their winter energy bills, looks like another calamitous policy reversal. The proposals were heavily trailed as the start of a relaunch of Gordon Brown's premiership. But they seem to have been scaled down after inconclusive negotiations with the power utilities.
As with the cut in stamp duty, the actual energy proposals that will see the light of day are worthy but modest. Instead of an up front rebate on this winter's gas and electricity bills, Mr Brown is pursuing a plan for improved household energy conservation, which will cut bills in the future. No-one can disagree with this. But once again, Mr Brown has built up hopes, only to deliver a pup. Such self-inflicted, presentational disasters are undermining confidence in his leadership far more than anything the Tories are doing.See the full content of this document
Extract
Leader: Brown has Missed a Trick On Windfall Levy
More to the point, Labour no longer has the luxury of thinking long-term. An election is in the offing yet domestic gas and electricity bills have gone up by a staggering 38 per cent this year alone. The result has been to hurt the average Br...
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