Oil and gas company Shell has today reported its highest profits
in its 115-year history. The firm's profits rose to $39.9bn
(£32.2bn) in 2022 – more than double those of the previous year.
Reacting to the news, Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero
Secretary accused the Tories of "letting the fossil fuel
companies making bumper profits off the hook with their refusal
to implement a proper windfall tax", arguing that is "too weak to stand up for
the British people". TUC general secretary Paul Nowak denounced
the profits as "obscene" and an "insult to working families". He
echoed Miliband's call for an expanded windfall tax, declaring:
"Instead of holding down the pay of paramedics, teachers,
firefighters and millions of other hard-pressed public servants,
ministers should be making Big Oil and Gas pay their fair share.
There is nothing stopping and Jeremy Hunt from making
that political choice."
Shell announced in October that it
had paid no UK windfall tax up to that point, despite the
government introducing a levy on the “extraordinary profits”
of the oil and gas sector in May last year. The company said
today it had taken a $1.9bn charge related to windfall taxes
in the EU and UK but did not confirm how much it had contributed
to each one. Amid a cost-of-living crisis that saw an estimated
three million low-income households unable to heat their homes
during December's cold snap, it is a scandal that the government
continues to resist calls to further strengthen its windfall tax.
Jeremy Hunt announced in November that
the levy would be raised from 25% to 35% and extended to the
end of March 2028, but Labour has identified other
changes the Chancellor could make to increase revenue, including
scrapping the investment allowance included in the levy, a tax
relief intended to encourage energy companies to continue
investing in the UK.
The Resolution Foundation think tank estimated last month that
the energy bills of a typical household in 2023/24 will be 43%
higher than in 2022/23 partly as a result of changes in the support
schemes on offer from the government. The
government's energy price guarantee, which limits the
amount suppliers can charge per unit of energy used, will rise in
April from £2,500 to £3,000 a year for a typical household, while
its energy bills support scheme, which saw households
receive £400 off their energy bills spread across six monthly
instalments, is due to end in March. Already struggling
households are reaching yet another cliff edge on energy costs,
and the government must act. If the desperation of the situation
wasn't already obvious, an investigation by The Times
revealed that debt
agents working for British Gas have been breaking into vulnerable
customers' homes to fit prepayment meters. On these types of
meters, if families cannot afford to top up, their heating is cut
off.
