You know when you hear news which is so disturbing, it unsettles your heart so much, you have to do something? Well, after BP just announced their profits, I couldn’t stay silent anymore! We’re in a ridiculous situation! This isn’t a “cost of living” crisis as much as it’s an unfair distribution of wealth crisis!
In case you were unaware, let me bring you up-to-date:
- British Gas made a profit of £1.3bn between January & June
- BP announced profits of £6.95 billion between April and June alone
- Shell has profited by £9.4bn in a year
The MEN at the top:
- Bernard Looney at BP received £4.5m last year. He’s on course for £11.7m by the end of 2022
- John Pettigrew, boss of National Grid received £6.5m bonus on top of his salary
- Chris O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica was paid almost £2m last year in salary and benefits
- Centrica’s non-executive directors were paid almost £1m
- Scottish Power’s CEO Keith Anderson is on £1.15m
- E.On boss Michael Lewis is on £1m
- EDF’s Simone Rossi is also on £1m
- And their top execs enjoyed a share of £4.65m
- Peter Simpson of Anglian Water earned a £1.3m pay package
- Welsh Water bosses awarded themselves bonuses of over £930,000
- Severn Trent bosses awarded themselves bonuses of £5.56m
- AND one woman: Thames Water’s Sarah Bentley, received a £727,000 bonus on top of her £2m annual salary
Meanwhile there are…
- People who have not eaten TODAY, because they can’t afford it
- People using FoodBanks because food is becoming more of a luxury than a necessity
- Children celebrating a birthday without presents, without cake, and without a party
- Parents worrying about new school uniforms – and some schools enforcing rules which are not cost-effective
- People who can’t get to work because they can’t afford to put petrol in their cars/pay for public transport anymore
- People who are working so much they’re making themselves ill, and they STILL CAN’T AFFORD to pay their bills
- People who have been given fines by these same energy/water companies because they couldn’t afford to pay their bills in the first place – increasing their debt
- Customers being told to do STAR JUMPS TO KEEP WARM for crying out loud!
- Hose pipe bans when gallons of water leak away every day
- Elderly people NOT DRINKING because they’re worried about running out of water!!!
THIS IS UTTER MADNESS!
Seriously?! There has to be compensation for customers who are feeling the burn of the cost of living crisis, rather than the fat cat bosses living in excess off the profits of the companies WE PAY. There has to be a cap! There has to be repercussions – why are customers’ money being used to make life more comfortable for those who are making life more intolerable for the rest of us?
I’ve not even highlighted the banking and finance industry, the bonuses received by retail giants like Next received. Or the stupid amounts of money thrown at MALE football players, so-called celebrities and “influencers”!
To my local MP: Remember the title of the 2019 Christmas production I wrote based on P!NK’s song? Let me ask you again, “WHAT ABOUT US”?
I’d love to send this to our Prime Minister but at the moment… we don’t really have one.
youcantslouchinheels 