RISING energy prices are crippling Britain, with millions in poverty and small businesses closing. Here are six things the government could do but won’t.
Nationalise an energy company
They’ll be going bust soon enough because nobody can afford to pay them, so it would be easy to step in, take over and set up a state-owned company that supplies energy without profit. But the Tories won’t because it would be a betrayal of Thatcher. That’s more unthinkable than going back to medieval times without electricity or hot water.
Invest in insulation
Households spend too much on energy because they’re inefficiently insulated. Subsidising wall and roof insulation would cut energy bills and reduce carbon emissions. But the Tories won’t because it’s your choice as an individual to have bad insulation if you like and Insulate Britain were hippies.
Freeze the price cap
If the price cap rises whenever prices do, it’s not a f**king price cap. Freezing it would get millions of households through the winter and force energy companies to reconsider their plan of ‘rampant profits now’. But the Tories won’t, because restricting profiteering is what Stalin did.
Invest in renewables
The cost of renewable energy hasn’t gone up. Putin can’t cut off wind or tides. Investing money in that, rather than trusting energy giants’ crossed-fingers promise to do it, would ensure that the lights stayed on. But the Tories won’t because GB News doesn’t like wind turbines.
Invest in nuclear
Nuclear power is basically glowing rocks that pump out infinite energy. There’s a strong argument for taking advantage, despite the dangers. Building nuclear power plants would provide for generations to come, but the Tories won’t because it’s expensive and hard and we’ve asked China to build one but they’re dragging their feet.
Subsidise solar panels
There’s nothing more individual and entrepreneurial than turning your own home into an energy producer. Imagine, thousands of little power companies lining the suburbs of Britain, each as self-sufficient as the country was meant to be post-Brexit. But the Tories won’t because they’re pricks.
