Alex Penson, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
Oil and gas giant Shell has announced profits of £32 billion for last year, double the previous year’s total, and the highest in its 115-year history. BP’s profits have also doubled to £23 billion.
Meanwhile, Tory chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed that under his budget to be announced on 15 March, domestic energy bills are expected to soar by another 40% from April.
Shell often boasts of its “ambitious” plans to switch to green energy. But it paid out almost six times as much to shareholders, in the fourth quarter of last year, as it did to its ‘renewables and energy solutions’ division – this includes controversial hydrogen and carbon capture and storage projects. And Shell has made clear that it does not plan to increase investment in this division next year, citing the need to “reward our shareholders”.
The Socialist Party stands for nationalisation of energy companies, like Shell and BP, under democratic workers’ control, and an urgent switch to green energy while securing workers’ rights and livelihoods.
