Don’t condemn Shell over its bumper profits

It is ‘obscene’ and ‘an insult to working families’, according to the TUC. If there was one thing more predictable than the doubling of profits of the energy giant Shell – given that the stuff it sells has soared in price over the last year – it was the storm of protest that it ran into following the announcement today.

‘No company should be making these kind of outrageous profits out of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine,’ said the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. Inevitably, there are now calls for higher windfall taxes, and even for state-ownership. But hold on? Shouldn’t we celebrate a major British company making lots of money, rather than condemn it? 

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There is no question that Shell had a good year. The company reported profits of $40 billion (£32 billion), almost double last year.