Shell’s profits show that we are all being taken for an expensive ride - GP Taylor

Yet, the oil and gas giant Shell has reported record annual profits after energy prices were manipulated last year, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The company divulged that its profits hit an eye watering and obscene £32.2bn in 2022. Staggeringly, that is double last year's total and the highest in Shell’s 115-year history. As people in Yorkshire went cold and hungry, the shareholders of this company were laughing all the way to the bank.

Energy firms have seen record earnings since oil and gas prices jumped following the invasion of Ukraine. The reason they rose was yet another money-making scam in this corrupt capitalistic system we must endure. Rich people betting on futures that would push up the price of fuel and make them even more money at the expense of the poor, when all along they knew there would always be plenty of oil and gas.

Brent crude oil reached nearly $128 a barrel following the invasion. This has since fallen back to about $83. Gas prices also spiked but have come down from their highs. Households have not been passed on the fall in the oil or gas prices and fuel companies will continue to make vast profits as pensioners freeze in their homes in fear of turning on the heating.

Amazingly, Shell had said it did not expect to pay any UK tax this year as it is allowed to offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits. This is an outrage and an insult to ordinary working people.

Why does the government allow this to continue?

Firstly, I don’t believe the government really cares about the masses and secondly, if they did, they are controlled by the financial institutions and can do nothing about it. Remember, it was a cabal of politicians and big business that manufactured the demise of Liz Truss. Money is power and we are just the consumers who will be squeezed until the pips squeak.

That is why the government will soon change the regulations in regard to wood burning stoves. They will stop people having access to other fuels other than gas and electricity.

This has nothing to do with environmental concerns and is more to do with profits. It is just a flagrant attempt to make everyone reliant on private energy providers.

Within 10 years, you will not be allowed to burn what you want on your fire. There will be a wood stove buy-back scheme that will plunge even more people into the cold.

If the government was as green as it makes out, it would close the Drax power station in Selby, as wood pellets imported from the US and burnt in the UK generated 13-16 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2019 - equivalent to the emissions from 6-7 million cars.

The climate think tank, Ember, calculates that the power station is now the UK's single largest source of carbon dioxide. Yet, Drax will be allowed to continue because it is big business and people are making money out of supplying energy. Money is power and power makes money.

The future for ordinary people looks cold and bleak. There does not seem to be any hope that as gas and oil prices fall, we will be passed on the savings.

Things must change. Britain has to become nuclear energy secure. The only way forward is for all power generating and supply to be nationalised.

Don’t believe the old mantra that nationalisation doesn’t work. If Shell can make a profit, then a government owned business certainly can.

Even if it were a mixed market, the government has to provide a state-owned option for the provision of power to heat our homes. It is immoral to leave the people at the mercy of multinationals that put profits before people.

Sadly, we will never see this happen because our political system is corrupt. It is open to being influenced by big business and trade unions who make substantial donations to parties on both sides of the House. Vested interests will always be maintained and backs will be scratched. There is no one in parliament with the social will to change the status quo.

Mark my words, things will get worse. If you think it has been hard to get through this winter, wait until next year. Businesses have realised that the government will do little to help. Any sanctions placed on companies or additional tax on profits can easily be avoided. All this is just hyperbole to be lapped up by the media to make us believe the government is doing something when, in reality, we are all being taken for a very expensive ride.

GP Taylor is a writer and broadcaster who lives in Yorkshire.