Chasing windfalls

THE centrepiece of Labour's first budget, on July 2nd, will be the long-promised “windfall tax on the excess profits of the privatised utilities”. But how much money the tax will raise, and which companies will pay what proportion of it, remain far from clear. Indeed, the government itself is apparently still wavering on this vital question. The prime minister is said to want the tax to be light and confined to a narrow group of companies, whereas Gordon Brown wants lots of cash from lots of firms.