Demonising energy companies is unfair

I was dismayed to read the council report by Josh Timlin titled ‘Fat cats’ profits is a ‘kick in the teeth’ in last week’s Chronicle.

It fully supports my view that the (local) political class is attempting to demonise the oil and gas industry for political purposes and deflect attention from their own failings.

Barnsley Council’s futile attempt at willy-waving to the government, while at the same time failing to provide basic services to the public (if you know, you know) just sums up their priorities.

Yes, I cannot defend the large profits that BP made in Q2, but they were partly, again, due to the failure of the Westminster politicians to work together and protect the public from the opportunistic price gouging that has taken place.

What was not mentioned in the report of the meeting was that BP lost £20.1bn in Q1 2022, and 20.7bn in the whole of 2020 when BP did its bit to keep the country going in a bad year for us all.

These losses dwarf the profit made in Q2 2022, and of course you have to ask why this was not discussed during the meeting as most councillors indulged in the feeding frenzy to whip up public hysteria – I have to assume this was deliberate. This winter, more than ever, we will need BP and the other companies in the oil and gas sector, and so this attempt to cripple them financially and in the media is scandalous.

The Westminster bubble has now abandoned us for six weeks; Johnson and Starmer jet away on the holiday to leave the rest of us to burn.

Meanwhile, in Barnsley, our council and local MPs will stick with their ‘climate emergency’ and ‘net zero’ agenda. I expect that they will reap what they sow this winter.