Tax speculation blowing in the wind

A ‘novel windfall tax’ on the profits of UK tobacco companies would be used by a future Labour government to part fund its plans for reinvigorating the nation’s National Health Service, according to a story by political editor, Patrick Wintour, for The Guardian.

Wintour said that in his final Labour party conference speech before next year’s general election, the opposition leader, Ed Miliband, would tell sceptical voters today that ‘he can bring the country back together and offer six ambitious goals, including changes to the NHS, designed to overcome “the greatest challenges of our age and transform the ethics of how Britain is run” over the next decade’.

However, a BBC News report said that the shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, had declined to comment on reports in The Guardian and The Times that Labour was planning a one-off tax on the profits of tobacco companies, saying he was “not aware” of any plans for a windfall tax of any sort.