Councillors have voted to condemn Labour's windfall tax plans for Aberdeen and have summoned Chancellor Rachel Reeves to the North-east for talks.

Members of Aberdeen City Council's Finance & Resources Committee - which includes Labour members - unanimously backed a motion which "agrees with industry experts" that hiking the Energy Profits Levy will put 100,000 jobs at risk.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has described plans to hike the levy to 78%, alongside a scrapping of investment allowances, as “reckless, wrong and economically ruinous”.

The council committee unanimously agreed and have asked the co-leaders – SNP Cllr Christian Allard and Liberal Democrat Cllr Ian Yuill – to write to Ms Reeves and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband inviting them to a roundtable meeting alongside partners, industry and trade union representatives.

The committee has also instructed council Chief Executive Angela Scott to write to Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging him to locate GB Energy in Aberdeen.

SNP Cllr Alex McLellan, Convener of the Finance and Resource Committee, said: “These issues are incredibly important to our city, so I am glad all councillors could unanimously agree that we need the Chancellor of the Exchequer to come to Aberdeen and hear first-hand the consequences of Labour's energy sector plans.

“Industry experts have explicitly warned of the impact that increasing the headline tax rate to 78% and closing investment allowances will have on the economy of Aberdeen as well as the 100,000 jobs at risk across the sector - the Chancellor must make clear why she is right and industry experts are wrong.

"Labour promised there would be no cliff edge for workers, but these plans appear to mean exactly that - without retaining the skilled workforce we hold in the North-east, there is no transition to net zero.

“Labour must recognise the contribution our energy sector has made and continues to make to the UK economy and take immediate action - if the UK Government fails to do so then North-east jobs and our net zero future is at severe risk."

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