UN chief attacks ‘immoral’ oil firms

THE head of the United Nations has accused oil and gas companies of “grotesque greed” and urged every government to introduce a windfall tax on their “immoral” record profits.

António Guterres, UN secretary-general, said money made “on the backs of the poorest” must be returned to the most vulnerable households just days after BP and

Shell reported massive profits in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Britain, Italy and Spain have pushed through windfall taxes on energy firms despite warnings that they will damage investment. Mr Guterres has now called on all governments to follow suit.

It comes as Shell is to award a one-off 8pc bonus to its employees, spending a total of $500m (£412m), after reporting record profits.

Mr Guterres claimed that energy companies and their financial backers are “destroying our only common home”.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “It is immoral for oil and gas companies to be making record profits from the current energy crisis.”

The former socialist prime minister of Portugal has repeatedly used his office to highlight the global gap between rich and poor.