Labour says £28bn green prosperity plan in doubt due to Tory crashing of the economy – UK politics live

Shadow chancellor says she cannot give a ‘final set of numbers’ on spending until economic stability returns to the UK

Meanwhile, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has offered the North Sea oil and gas industry a “get-out” clause from the windfall tax on fossil fuel profits if wholesale energy market prices fall back to normal levels.

Jillian Ambrose reports:

The chancellor hopes to boost investment in the North Sea by agreeing to suspend the windfall tax on oil profits if the market price for Brent crude falls below $71.40 a barrel, and gas prices fall below 54p a therm, for a period of six months. The global oil price is now about $75 a barrel, and the UK’s gas price is about 64 p/th.

The Treasury has put forward the change a little over six months after raising the energy profits levy from 25% to 35%, on top of the usual 40% rate of tax, and extending the regime by two years until 2028. It is expected to raise tens of billions of pounds to help cover the cost of the government’s support for energy bills.