Adam Harmsworth, Coventry Socialist Party
Rather than aid working-class people with soaring energy bills, the Tories’ new plans announced in the autumn budget pile even greater costs on to us. The energy price cap is rising by £500 or 20%, and the £400 universal discount we had this year is being scrapped.
According to MoneySavingExpert, that makes the real rise 43%, which is going to send hundreds of thousands more households into fuel poverty. Pensioners get just £300, while further discounts are available only to those on means-tested benefits. At a time when the economic crisis means workers need more support, we are getting less!
Even the insufficient windfall tax has proven redundant from the start. The Guardian has reported that “oil and gas stocks were broadly unmoved“ after limited changes to the tax were announced, showing that shareholders don’t actually expect the Tory plans to take much of their bloated profits at all.
And they really are bloated profits. Shell alone has made a staggering £31 billion over the last 12 months. Its latest two quarters are its best on record. Electricity distributors like Northern Powergrid have taken a total of £15.8 billion in profits in the last year.
Contrast the incredible wealth of the energy company bosses with the millions of working-class families and pensioners having to cope with rising bills. Those on cruel prepayment meters will have their heating and electricity shut off if cash runs out. The disabled reliant on machines at home like ventilators are at serious risk. The government’s plans have made all of this more likely for the worst off in society.
The private ownership of energy has created a sick system of profiteering off the backs of millions of people struggling to, or unable to, make ends meet. No tinkering with the private model can fix this hoarding of wealth, and the energy bosses don’t want it tinkered with. The idea of a windfall tax was met with energy bosses threatening to cut investments, showing how our energy security is subject to the interests of the capitalist class.
Only nationalisation of energy can ensure gas and electricity are affordable, and that we have a secure supply for the future. Nationalising without compensation to energy giants would mean we could use their hoarded profits immediately to slash bills, especially for the most vulnerable. We could then begin massive investment in energy security, including transitioning to green energy, as part of a democratic socialist plan of production.
