As it should be: Big UK energy users want to dodge green tax

Secret talks are taking place between the Government and the biggest energy users to exempt them from billions of pounds of green taxes under Chris Huhne's ambitious plan to make Britain the greenest country on the planet.

The Government has been forced to negotiate with the Energy Intensive Users Group because the Energy Secretary's aim could effectively cripple these industries, forcing them overseas.

The group calculates that to meet the Government's target of halving their emissions by 2025, their energy bills would have to rise by up to £3.5bn a year by the 2020s.

Without any relief from these taxes, which will not be paid by their competitors on the Continent, intensive energy users such as steel and chemical producers have warned they would be forced to quit Britain or go out of business.

Last week, Tata Steel said the imposition of steep green taxes was partly to blame for its decision to cut 1,500 jobs at its Scunthorpe and Teesside plants. After interventions by Business Secretary Vince Cable, Huhne has been forced to accept that these industries must be protected.

A Department of Energy spokesman said: 'Before the end of the year we will announce a package of measures to reduce the impact of Government policy on the cost of electricity for energy intensive industries.'

A group official said it was not clear how the Government would mitigate its green measures. 'We will either be exempted from the taxes or be compensated,' he said.

The irony is that in an attempt to become the world's greenest country the biggest polluters will pay less in tax than 'greener' industries.

Jeremy Nicholson, director of the London-based group, said: 'We have to stay internationally competitive if we're going to attract investment and keep manufacturing jobs in Britain. How can we do that if the Government's climate policies double the cost of industrial electricity? There's nothing green about driving British industry offshore.'

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As it should be: Big UK energy users want to dodge green tax

As it should be: Big UK energy users want to dodge green tax

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