Helen Lethaby provides your monthly review
Oil and gas industry
The oil and gas industry has made known its indignation over the hike in the supplementary charge in the Budget with some players already announcing or threatening a scaling-down of their investment in UK fields.
The measure attracted quite a lot of debate in Hansard in early May with Malcolm Bruce MP criticising the government for failing to engage with the oil and gas companies prior to a 12% increase in their tax rate and contrasting the move with the cautious and consultative way in which the government has generally applied new taxes to the banking industry (the real villain of course).
