A windfall tax on energy companies would be simply 'old-fashioned socialist hatred,' a shadow cabinet minister has said, as the row over the mooted tax intensified.

Energy companies said the cost would simply be picked up by customers, as shadow business secretary Alan Duncan criticized those who were pushing for the move.

Duncan said the nearly 80 Labour MPs who had signed a petition pushing for the move were 'whipping up hatred'.

'We are seeing old-fashioned socialist hatred converting once again into high taxation,' he told the FT.

David Porter, chief executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, said: 'If you take money out of the companies and they have to find it somewhere else, then their investment costs will go up and customers will have to bear the brunt of that.'

The government is under pressure from its backbenchers to introduce the tax, but many in government, including John Hutton, the business secretary, and chancellor Alistair Darling, are said to be skeptical.

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