Tuesday, May 02, 2023
Excessive profits cannot be justified
The Guardian reports on the uproar after BP posted its profits for the first quarter od 2023.
The energy company said its underlying profits reached $5bn (£4bn) in the first three months of the year, outstripping analysts’ forecasts of $4.3bn. It represents the second-best results for the first quarter that it has notched up since 2012, when it made $4.7bn, behind last year’s $6.2bn.
Quite rightly, this announcement has sparked renewed calls for a tougher windfall tax to help offset the mouth-watering electricity and gas bills that most British families are struggling to afford to pay:
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said oil and gas companies were treating the British public “like cash machines”.
He said: “These eye-watering profits are an insult to working families as millions struggle with sky-high bills. The government has left billions on the table by refusing to impose a proper windfall tax on the likes of BP. And even now ministers are refusing to take action to fix our broken energy market and stop this obscene price gouging.
“We could have lower household bills and an energy system that served the public, if government taxed excessive profits, introduced a social tariff and created public ownership of new clean power.”
Global Justice Now, the campaign group, said: “Today’s heinous profits from BP are another kick in the teeth to the millions of people who can’t afford to heat their homes.”
There is a clear case to expand the UK windfall tax to capture profits made from refining oil and selling fuel, while scrapping the tax break on fossil fuel extraction. We also need far more investment in renewable energy generation and insulating people's homes.
The energy company said its underlying profits reached $5bn (£4bn) in the first three months of the year, outstripping analysts’ forecasts of $4.3bn. It represents the second-best results for the first quarter that it has notched up since 2012, when it made $4.7bn, behind last year’s $6.2bn.
Quite rightly, this announcement has sparked renewed calls for a tougher windfall tax to help offset the mouth-watering electricity and gas bills that most British families are struggling to afford to pay:
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said oil and gas companies were treating the British public “like cash machines”.
He said: “These eye-watering profits are an insult to working families as millions struggle with sky-high bills. The government has left billions on the table by refusing to impose a proper windfall tax on the likes of BP. And even now ministers are refusing to take action to fix our broken energy market and stop this obscene price gouging.
“We could have lower household bills and an energy system that served the public, if government taxed excessive profits, introduced a social tariff and created public ownership of new clean power.”
Global Justice Now, the campaign group, said: “Today’s heinous profits from BP are another kick in the teeth to the millions of people who can’t afford to heat their homes.”
There is a clear case to expand the UK windfall tax to capture profits made from refining oil and selling fuel, while scrapping the tax break on fossil fuel extraction. We also need far more investment in renewable energy generation and insulating people's homes.
