Yorkshire MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change Ed Miliband is asking Ministers to “follow through with their promises” and scrap the tax for a year, as wholesale gas prices are soaring to record levels.

The issue will be raised in an Opposition Day Debate today, and the cut will be put to a vote in the House of Commons. Labour has also proposed a windfall tax on the North Sea oil and gas industry, to help support those struggling as energy prices rise.

But the Government has so far resisted making moves on VAT, and Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said oil and gas companies were “already struggling”.

However Labour says the industry was expected to report a near-record income in 2021/22.

No 10 said yesterday that Ministers recognised there were “increased costs on things like both food and fuel” globally.

Former Labour leader Mr Miliband said: “The Government - and all the Tory MPs who have previously backed a VAT cut on home energy bills - should follow through with their promises and vote with Labour today to scrap the tax for a year, as hard working people face a growing cost of living crisis.

“The Conservatives’ clear opposition to the windfall tax tells you exactly whose side they are on – and it’s not the British people struggling with their energy bills. It tells you everything you need to know about this Government that they believe we should prioritise oil and gas companies making huge windfall profits that they say are ‘struggling’, rather than the British people who face the true struggle to pay their energy bills."

Labour call for Government to cut VAT in energy bills amid soaring prices