Sunak U-turns on ‘energy profits levy’ in £15bn cost of living package

Chancellor's measures, including tax on oil and gas companies, criticised as too late and a drop in the ocean'

Rishi Sunak bowed to months of pressure over the cost of living crisis with a 15bn package of support, part-funded by executing a remarkable U-turn to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.

Announcing the measures on Thursday, in a bruising week for the government, the chancellor said his significant set of interventions" would help the poorest in society - with a one-off 650 payment for 8 million families on means-tested benefits, alongside an extra 200 for all energy bill payers that will not have to be repaid.