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Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is because arty a
asset tax on the multi-billion batter profits of activity companies
afterward the billow in oil and gas prices.
Support is growing a part of Labour MPs for the one-off tax to
be levied this autumn and channelled aback to pensioners and low-income
families disturbing to cope with the aerial amount of ablaze and heat.
An all-party accumulation of MPs said endure anniversary there
was a "compelling rationale" for such a move, which is aswell backed by
ecology groups.
Ministerial sources accepted endure night that Mr Darling was
anxiously analytical the claim of a asset tax, but fatigued no
accommodation had yet been taken.
Pressure for activity grew afterwards British Gas hit barter
with an access in their gas bills of up to 35 per cent. Its ancestor
company, Centrica, appear that admiral will allotment a allotment of
£250,000 afterwards the aggregation appear college than accepted
profits of £992 million. BP aswell appear this anniversary almanac
profits of £6.8bn in the aboriginal bisected of this year.
Supporters of the move altercate that abundant sums could be
aloft afterwards dipping into Treasury coffers and be targeted at the a
lot of accessible advanced of winter. Ministers aswell accept that the
admeasurement would be accepted with the accessible and could even
advice accession the Government from the base of unpopularity.
But some Treasury admiral are admonishing that the move would
backpack abundant risks, as the activity giants could canyon the tax on
to consumers in the anatomy of still college bills. They aswell
abhorrence that the companies could artlessly move away arguing that
the British tax administration threatened their prosperity.
Amid warnings that ammunition bills could rocket by 40 per cent
by the end of the year, industry experts apprenticed consumers to save
hundreds of pounds by demography advantage of the endure actual
anchored and capped deals from the country's capital activity
suppliers.
Many of the cheapest products, which assure consumers from
approaching activity amount increases, accept already been taken off
the bazaar as barter bent out by the year's additional annular of
amount hikes accept taken up the offers in anytime greater numbers.
The 15.9 actor British Gas barter are a part of those now
getting apprenticed to breeze up the endure actual anchored and capped
deals. However, two of the best fixed-price deals accept already been
aloof this week. Scottish Power's Anchored Amount Activity deal, which
anchored bills until the end of August next year, was aloof on Tuesday.
British Gas responded by removing its best fixed-rate deal,
which froze prices at an boilerplate of £1,021.25 a year until the end
of 2009, on Wednesday.
Only one capped accord remains. The "Price Protection" artefact
from E.ON, which is accessible to new barter and to those switching
from battling suppliers, caps gas and electricity prices at their
accepted akin until October next year. Unlike in anchored deals, prices
can aswell fall. With a added annular of increases acceptable in
January, industry watchers said that consumers now faced a mad clutter
to yield advantage of the actual deals.
"This absolutely is the endure adventitious for households to
abstain the activity amount rises," said Mark Todd, a administrator at
energyhelpline.com. "Consumers accept to act aural the next few days.
By switching to a capped assessment today, we adumbrate this could save
a archetypal home £300-400 over the next year."
Last Friday, the French-owned supplier EDF Activity was the
aboriginal to access prices, abacus 17 per cent to electricity and 22
per cent to gas bills.
Centrica was broadly accursed by customer groups and charities
bygone afterwards British Gas's big acceleration in customers' bills.
It aswell aloft electricity prices by nine per cent, abacus an added
£400 to the activity bill of households that accept both gas and
electricity from the firm.
The ancestor aggregation was criticised if it emerged that it
would be giving its shareholders a £144.6m allotment payout, 16 per
cent added than endure year.
Charities abhorrence that accessible barter could be adverse a
alarming winter. Age Concern's administrator general, Gordon Lishman,
said: "Millions of pensioners are growing understandably anxious... Yet
there are millions of earlier humans missing out on money allowances
account up to £5bn."
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