Rishi Sunak has said that the Windfall tax is only a 'temporary' relief on energy bills that does nothing to improve the UK’s current situation. Climate campaigners have said that it facilitates oil and gas companies into more production, climate campaigners have said. This will further increase the use of fossil fuels in the UK instead of green alternative energy.

Why has the government neglected a more feasible plan, a nationwide programme of home insulation, which many experts have called for which will so quickly bring down the energy bills?

According to Guardian, Ami McCarthy, a political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “This windfall tax will serve only as a sticking plaster. While providing support to millions struggling with sky-high energy bills is 100% the right thing to do, by only skimming the top 25% off oil and gas company profits Sunak has missed a huge opportunity to tackle the root cause of the cost of living crisis, and the climate crisis together.”

Sunak also declared that oil and gas companies that invest in new fossil fuel production would receive a tax break worth 90% of the windfall tax.

As the new oil and gas production will take years, perhaps decades, to come to fulfilment, making no effect on energy bills now and potentially busting the UK’s future carbon budgets.

McCarthy said: “Instead of driving money into clean energy solutions, Sunak has used this announcement to encourage oil and gas company investments. Yet the current cost of living crisis is mostly a result of gas price rises – hard-up families shouldn’t have to wait for the prime minister and chancellor to deliver cheaper and cleaner energy to help with their bills.”

Renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. When compared to the cost of gas and electricity renewable energy is now far cheaper in the UK. What we need is a little push from the government -to invest in energy efficiency and make renewable energy accessible for all the citizens. This indeed feels like a temporary bandaid on the wound-just to show that the government is responsible.