SHARON GRAHAM: 'Workers can’t keep paying for every crisis - we need a plan, now'

Workers can’t keep paying for crisis after crisis they did not create. As American and Israeli bombs landed on Tehran, energy bills in Britain are forecast to hit almost £2,000 a year this summer.In this global world, war in one continent affects virtually every other. No one will escape Trumpflation, particularly those countries that have offshored their oil and energy supply, like us. Decades of sell offs and underinvestment mean that we rely on others. Over 40% of our power supplies come from abroad and we are reliant on imports for food.This week Britain’s gas market has pushed past three-year highs. In the 1980’s we were near self-sufficiency. But as British workers prepare themselves for summer hikes to their bills, some are doing very well out of war and oil shocks.Investment bank Jefferies estimates that American oil producers will generate an extra $5 billion in March alone. Analysis by EnergyFlux found exporters and traders of American liquefied natural gas are set to earn nearly $1 billion more per week based on higher prices.‌View 5 ImagesDisruption to petrol supplies due to the Middle East war(Image: PA)Unite has been warning about rampant profiteering for years, but up to now no politician has been willing to say out loud what most people think – why should profits be protected but not household bills or wages? Coming late to the party, profit caps are now being called for in Europe, as politics tries to catch up.Trump’s illegal war is just the latest in a long line of crisis that has left the super-rich richer and everyone else paying more for less. At each turn there are winners and losers. The 2008 global banking crash saw the City firms that caused the crash bailed out, while workers’ wages stagnated. City bankers have now even got their bonuses back. A safety net for the wealthy, the law of the jungle for the rest.A decade later, over 500 health and social workers lost their lives during Covid. We proved that huge numbers of firms had profiteered...