UK isolated as EU agrees windfall tax on energy firms

Levy could raise 140bn, and energy ministers also set targets to cut electricity use

EU energy ministers have agreed to levy windfall taxes on energy companies' profits, and to cut electricity use, but remain at loggerheads over proposals to cap the price of gas.

Meeting in Brussels on Friday, the bloc's 27 energy ministers signed off on proposals to levy a solidarity contribution" on fossil fuel producers that have benefited from soaring energy prices.