A WEST Scotland MSP has called for a windfall tax for oil and gas companies in response to the rising cost of energy prices.

Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer made the statement during a live broadcast of the BBC’s The Nine news show, where Mr Greer appeared via a live link.

He said to host Martin Geissler on last week’s programme: “I understand that I’ve got constituents across my region, people across Scotland who will not be able to heat their own home.

“Not only will they have to choose between heating and eating, they won’t be able to do either of them because of this rise in their energy prices.

“And at the same time, the executives of BP and Shell and these other companies are laughing all the way to the bank with multi-billion dollar profits.”

Mr Greer continued: “A windfall tax to help people through what is going to be a nightmarish time is the absolute least the UK government should be doing.

"They’re now profiting off of the poverty being caused to people across the country, but they’ve profited off the destruction of our planet for decades.

“They should be made to pay for the destruction and damage that they’ve caused.

“This is greed, pure and simple.”