BETA filters Key Events (2) Liz Truss (3) As my colleague Denis Campbell reports, a review of measures to stop people eating too much junk food ordered by Liz Truss could lead to the Government scrapping its entire anti-obesity strategy. Polly Mackenzie, who was a policy adviser to Nick Clegg when he was Lib Dem deputy prime minister in the coalition government, says Truss cannot abandon obesity-reducing regulation and keep taxes low and fund a health service capable of dealing with the consequences of obesity all at once. Here’s the thing: You can have a low-regulation society where people and businesses are allowed to create harms like obesity, workplace stress, air pollution. But the cost to your health will be huge. So you need high taxes to pay for low regulation… https://t.co/2SupFjPUf0 — Polly Mackenzie (@pollymackenzie) September 14, 2022 Now – regulation is cost, it’s just implemented differently. So people will argue about which is better: Tax to pay for the externalities people/businesses create – leaving more freedom to innovate. Regulate to reduce externalities – cut taxes but limit freedom… — Polly Mackenzie (@pollymackenzie) September 14, 2022 What not to do (but everyone seems to pretend you can)… It is possible to have low taxation AND low regulation AND affordable public services. You can only have two. — Polly Mackenzie (@pollymackenzie) September 14, 2022 Updated at 10.31 BST Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, says the UK is facing an “income crisis”. He says workers should have a better share of corporate profits. Soaring #inflation may have eased last month, but that won’t last. Current levels continue to threaten the living standards of millions of workers. This is now an income crisis. 1/2 — Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) September 14, 2022 Only the rich and powerful are protected. It’s time for the rest of us to unionize and take back our share of the corporate profits we create. #JoinAUnion 2/2 — Sharon Graham (@UniteSharon) September 14, 2022 This has parallels with the point Ursula von der Leyen made about profits in her speech this morning (see 9.35am), although Von der Leyen, a German Christian Democrat who has little in common with Graham, he was just talking about the energy sector. Updated at 10.36 BST
Government fails to deny reports businesses may have to wait until November for help with energy bills to become available
When Liz Truss announced the “energy price guarantee” last week, households were relatively clear about what they would get, but the promise of help for businesses was much more vague. Companies and corporate groups are still very nervous and yesterday a trade association said its members were “at the end of their tether” not knowing whether they will survive this winter. According to a report in the Financial Times today, corporate Britain is right to be concerned. Daniel Thomas, Jim Pickard and Nathalie Thomas say the support program promised by Truss may not be operational until November. In their report they state: In recent meetings with the government, officials were told of the risk that the program might not be ready until November, although officials said they still hoped the program would be up and running next month. “It is not yet complete,” said a government official. “I don’t know if it will come before November. There is some discussion about whether it can be pushed forward and happen before then.” Truss said last week that household unit prices would be capped so that a typical household would pay no more than £2,500 a year on their energy bills next year. He said businesses would receive “equivalent support”. But businesses are not covered by the Ofgem price cap that applies to consumers, and the FT says that “with no mechanism in place, ministers and officials are still struggling to work out how to cap companies’ energy bills”. The report continues: The government will provide energy suppliers with the difference between a new lower price and the price energy retailers would otherwise charge business customers. But while ministers have outlined this broad framework, they have yet to decide on the exact system for implementing it. The government has not denied that the plan may not be ready until November. A government spokesman said officials were working “at pace” to deliver the support program for businesses and that details of the program and timing of when it would start would be announced as soon as possible. Updated at 10.13 BST
EU calls for refunds from energy companies, saying profits should go ‘to those who need them most’
Good morning. There is very little public politics taking place in Britain at the moment (although the events following the Queen’s death are political in the broadest sense, and anyone who knows how a political campaign works will have watched what King Charles has been up to in recent days, no doubt with sympathy, but also immense admiration for his professionalism.) But in Brussels business as usual continues, and this morning Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has just delivered her State of the Union address to the European Parliament . There was a lot in it, particularly about Ukraine, and I’ll post a full summary later, but for readers in the UK what he said about energy was particularly interesting – because it was so different to what the UK government is saying.
Von der Leyen proposed clawing back money from energy companies, saying “profits should go to those who need them most.” He said there should be a cap on profits for renewable energy companies and said fossil fuel companies should also contribute more during the crisis. He said:
Millions of Europeans need support. EU member states have already invested billions of euros to help vulnerable households. But we know that won’t be enough. That is why we propose a cap on the revenues of companies that generate electricity at low cost. These companies are making revenue that they never had, never even dreamed of. In our social market economy, profits are good. But in these times it is a mistake to take record profits profiting from war and on the backs of consumers. In these times, profits must be shared and channeled to those who need them most. Our proposal would raise more than €140 billion for Member States to cushion the blow immediately. And because we are in a fossil fuel crisis, the fossil fuel industry also has a special duty. Big oil, gas and coal companies are also making huge profits. So they have to pay a fair share – they have to contribute to the crisis. These are all emergency and temporary measures that we are working on, including our discussions on price caps. Although Liz Truss, the UK’s new prime minister, is not reversing the windfall tax on energy companies announced earlier this year when Boris Johnson was in No 10, in her first PMQs last week she strongly stated her opposition to windfalls taxes on authority. Consider the workers in… factories in central Italy who decided to move their shifts to the early morning to take advantage of lower energy prices. And just imagine the mothers and fathers among those workers who have to leave home early when the children are still asleep because of the war they did not choose. This is one example in a million examples of Europeans adapting to the new reality. I want our association to take an example from its people. So reducing peak demand will make supply last longer and lower prices. This is why we are proposing measures for Member States to reduce overall electricity consumption. Again, this is a contrast to the UK, where the government has been reluctant to encourage people to use less energy or to promote anything that smacks of energy rationing. I’m trying to follow the comments below the line (BTL) but it’s impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, include “Andrew” somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they’re of general interest I’ll post the question and answer above the line (ATL), though I can’t promise I’ll do it for everyone. If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m on @AndrewSparrow. Alternatively you can email me at [email protected] Ursula von der Leyen delivers her Union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Photo: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images Updated at 10.32 BST
