Tower Hamlets Socialist Party member
The working class in the UK have seen our energy bills rise astronomically since the cost-of-living crisis began, yet oil and gas giants like BP have candidly published updates on their websites to show their annual profit margins.
According to BP’s first quarter 2023 results webpage, they record $5 billion (£4 billion) in the first three months of 2023. In 2022, their annual profits more than doubled to $28 billion (£23 billion).
If only this was bad enough, after reporting these record annual profits, BP has also announced that it is cutting back on its climate goals and emissions pledge. BP has announced greater production of oil and gas over the next seven years compared with previous targets. They previously announced a pledge to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, promising that emissions would be between 35-40% lower by the end of this decade. However, in February BP announced it was now targeting a 20-30% cut, highlighting they need to keep investing in oil and gas to meet current demand.
Price rises
While BP bosses are swimming in oil and openly talking about plans to continue destroying our planet, the rest of us are struggling to pay energy bills, being refused a cost-of-living pay rise, and experiencing huge rises in the cost of everyday grocery items.
Already unaffordable, another energy price cap rise is on the horizon for July 2023. Many are having to take more drastic measures to keep their heads above water. Parents skip meals to make sure there’s enough for their children and think twice about using gas and electricity at home. Just how much more can we take of this capitalist climate?
The Socialist Party calls for nationalisation of energy companies like Shell and BP, with no compensation for the current fat-cat, profiteering, polluting owners. Publicly owned and under democratic workers’ control, the energy industry could make an urgent switch to green energy while securing workers’ rights and livelihoods.
Join us in our fight for a workers’-led climate strategy and a socialist plan to end climate catastrophe and cost-of-living misery.
