Shell's job losses: is Maidstone to blame?

Of course not but there is a tenous link - Shell was founded in 1897 by Viscount Bearsted (who was plain Mr Samuel at the time) and whose residence was to become Mote House in Maidstone. While Mote Park has moved into public ownership and is the jewel in Maidstone's crown (the 180 hectare park is in the centre of Maidstone), Shell is another matter.

Apart from the whole issue of digging finite resources up and promoting them as if they do not damage and will never run out, Shell has hardly got a great record as a company.

This piece is out in today's Morning Star: "Shell has announced that it will axe another 1,000 jobs this year despite raking in over £6 billion in profits. The bombshell was dropped after the company reported a 69 per cent fall in annual profits to £6.1bn"

It must be a tough life when your profits fall to just £6 billion. Of course it is a much tougher life when your job is axed.