Britain is in trouble if Rishi Sunak says it’s difficult to choose between cutting public services and taxing excessive energy profits
The cash machines are whirring at oil giants, but the money is being sent to shareholders rather than households. That’s ludicrous when voters are trapped between a cost of living crisis and a looming climate disaster. On Thursday, Shell made a £8bn profit in the three months to September – taking its haul to over £25bn this year. The company will hand back money to shareholders by raising its dividend and a £3.5bn share buyback. Despite making record profits, Shell has not paid any windfall taxes because of a government-made loophole that allows the company to offset North Sea investments.
This farcical situation has come about because of the economics of the madhouse. In 2021, the UK offered the best profit conditions to develop offshore oil and gas fields. This made a mockery of claims that the country was leading a green revolution to reduce its carbon footprint. Big profits in fossil fuel companies when energy bills were rising made this situation unsustainable, and the government was forced to impose a “temporary targeted energy profits levy”. But it was riddled with get-out clauses.
