IIt was not an unexpected tax, but an “energy surplus tax,” according to Rishi Sunak. Perhaps the Chancellor’s word choice was to avoid the inevitable hint that his government had stolen the policy from Labor.
The opposition had been calling for an “unexpected tax” for several months as inflation rose to a 40-year high of 9%, regulators warned of huge energy bills and Boris Johnson tried to cope with the Partygate scandal.
Here are some examples of when conservative governments have borrowed from their challengers on the opposite benches.
Windfall treasure
The Labor Party first called for an unexpected tax on oil and gas producers almost five months ago. The opposition forced a binding vote in the House of Commons on the proposal, but the Conservatives voted it down. It was defeated by 310 votes to 248. Sunak announced the tax on Thursday.
Energy cover
Theresa May promised in her 2017 manifesto to introduce a ceiling on energy prices, which came into force on January 1, 2019. The policy was similar, but not identical, to the proposals that Ed Miliband first made in his election campaign in 2015. At that time said then-Prime Minister David Cameron that the proposal was proof that Miliband wanted to live in a “Marxist universe”.
HS2
The Department of Transportation under a Labor government proposed the high-speed rail link, but the cloak was taken over by the Conservatives when Labor lost power in 2010. When Johnson told parliament in 2020 that the infrastructure project would go ahead, the then opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, replied: “Again see We want the government to take its ideas from the Labor Party. “
Nationalization
The concept of nationalization is usually a pity for the Conservatives, but it has not prevented the party from withdrawing some services to public ownership. The government renationalized what was widely known as the Northern Rail service, which had been operated by Arriva Rail North, by 2020. It also announced plans that same year to renationalize the penitentiary – the management of criminal offenders in the community. Corbyn’s Labor opposition had called for both actions to be taken.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7.00 BST
National Infrastructure Commission
George Osborne was accused of being a “magpie chancellor” when he announced plans for a national infrastructure commission in 2015. Miliband had proposed the idea a year earlier with the aim of ending a culture of “chronic short-sightedness”. Inaugurated in 2015, one of its main tasks is to conduct a national infrastructure assessment under each parliament.
