The shadow net zero secretary, Ed Miliband compared the government’s windfall tax on energy companies to Swiss cheese, saying it is full of holes, after Shell and British Gas reported significant profits.

“People will be scratching their heads and thinking ‘isn’t the government doing a windfall tax?’ Well the answer is they are, but it’s full of holes,” the former Labour leader told BBC Breakfast.

“This is like the proverbial Swiss cheese, it’s full of holes, because there’s a massive loophole in this windfall tax,” Miliband added.