BORIS Johnson, the U-turn Prime Minister, has hinted he might be prepared to slam on the brakes and change direction yet again as he seeks to limit the damage from the expected Conservative car crash at this coming week’s local elections.

Such a move would, of course, look like desperation. Because that’s exactly what it would be.

Until now, he and his ministerial colleagues have stressed the UK Government will not heed Labour’s repeated call to impose a windfall tax on bumper energy company profits to help soften the economic blow on struggling households. To do so, Johnson has argued, would discourage investment in the country’s energy infrastructure and make Britain more reliant on foreign imports.

His deputy, Dominic Raab, branded Keir Starmer’s windfall tax plan “disastrous”.

And yet, remarkably, other ministers last week were dropping hints that they may introduce one if the energy giants did not use those bumper profits to invest billions in the North Sea, renewables and low-carbon hydrogen.

However, one Whitehall insider made clear: “It won’t happen … We’re between Budgets, so we’re in all-options-on-the-table mode … Rishi and Boris both think a windfall tax would do more harm than good. It would deter investment.”

After realising that it may not be the aftermath of partygate that will do for the Tories at the scheduled 2024 General Election but the lingering effects of the cost-of-living crisis, the PM knows it’s really not a good look to be siding with big business raking in vast profits at the expense of hard-pressed households, especially when there are elections just days away.

So, expect more dropping of windfall tax hints this week when, by sheer coincidence, Boris is due to meet energy company chiefs.

The spotlight will fall on the likes of BP and Shell as they announce what are set to be their largest profits for a decade ahead of polling day. Analysts expect a combined Q1 total for both companies of £10 billion, double for the corresponding period in 2021.

On Friday, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, repeated the Government’s thinly-veiled tax threat as he again urged the sector to invest more in the North Sea and offshore wind projects.

But the industry stood its ground, stressing how it planned to invest £20bn on North Sea oil and gas projects and £60bn on offshore wind projects in the coming years.

The concentration of Government minds is being helped by opinion polls pointing to a black Thursday for the Conservatives.

Last week, a snapshot put Labour 13 points clear in England; one in Scotland earlier this month suggested the SNP was on course for a record result, polling 44 per cent first preference votes, with Labour on 23% and the Tories back in third on 18%.

Johnson has insisted his Government is doing “everything in our power” to help people cope with rising prices but, amid a decidedly unfavourable political outlook for the Tories, he convened a Downing Street brain-storming session on Tuesday to come up with suggestions to ease the squeeze.

But the ideas thrashed out hardly set the political pulse racing. They ranged from allowing vehicles to have an MOT test every two years instead of one, saving motorists £55 a year, and emulating Scotland to cut childcare costs by loosening the staff to children ratios to reducing food tariffs, and encouraging people to access welfare support they were entitled to but were unaware of.

More realistic was the call from around the Cabinet table for a tax cut.

Come the autumn Budget when inflation could top 8%, Rishi Sunak is more likely to turn the £200 loan to help with rising energy costs into a grant. Figures this week showed UK debt had halved and with increased revenue coming into the Treasury from higher taxes, the Chancellor should helpfully have some wriggle room to lighten the load on Britain’s households.

PRICE CAP RISE

PREDICTIONS have suggested that the energy price cap in October could rise by 40% to average annual bills of nearly £3,000. But there is a long way to go before then.

In a Mumsnet interview, the Chancellor said it would be “silly” to offer households more support now before it was clear how much bills would rise by. Not so silly if you’re struggling already and need more help today.

In the coming weeks, Boris will chair a special Cabinet sub-committee to see if any of the ministerial suggestions can be realised but I suspect the heather will stay unsinged.

With the reaction to the Cabinet group-think being underwhelming, Sunak in his Mumsnet interview decided to commit news. While the Chancellor made clear he did not want to slap a windfall tax on the energy giants for the reasons already stated, he then mentioned: “Nothing is ever off the table in these things.”

He added: “If we don’t see that type of investment coming forward and if the companies are not going to make those investments in our country and in our energy security, then, of course, that [windfall tax] is something I would look at.”

As eyebrows were raised, Downing Street said it was reluctant to pursue such a tax but it didn’t remove the threat, repeating the Chancellor’s “keeping all options on the table” line.

Some Tories believe a bad showing on May 5 has been “baked in” but that still won’t mask the vulnerability MPs will feel with just two years to go to the next UK election.

If their party is going to switch the captain, they better give a new leader time to create their own team and policies that just might give the Conservatives a chance of a fifth consecutive term. The post May 5 fall-out could make this summer interesting for Westminster-watchers.

When it comes to their leaders, the Conservatives can be brutal. Their MPs know if Boris can’t convince voters his leadership is best-placed to ease the squeeze on living standards, then the likelihood is it will be they who will be squeezed come 2024. They may even be squeezed out of power altogether.