Energy
Did Russia sabotage its own pipelines?
It almost seems worthy of the opening scene in a Bond film. Vital Russian gas pipelines running beneath the Baltic Sea close…
The problem with nationalising energy
Is nationalisation the vote-winner which Keir Starmer believes it to be? We will find out in due course, but my…
The bonus cap was boneheaded but is this the moment to scrap it?
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng – keen to sharpen the City’s competitive edge, we’re told – wants to remove the legislative cap,…
Portrait of the week
Home The body of Queen Elizabeth lay in state at Westminster Hall, in a coffin draped in the royal standard…
Has inflation peaked?
This morning’s surprise update from the Office for National Statistics shows headline inflation at 9.9 per cent on the year…
A cocktail of misfortunes is hammering the pound
My predecessor Christopher Fildes looked at exchange rates through a cocktail glass: three negronis for the Italian lira equivalent of…
Ten graphs that Liz Truss can’t ignore
The new Prime Minister’s honeymoon starts and ends today. Once Liz Truss formally enters Downing Street tomorrow she will be…
Insult Macron at your peril: we may need his electricity
‘The jury’s out’, was Liz Truss’s pert response to the question ‘Macron: friend or foe?’ at last week’s Norwich hustings.…
Barometer
Of mice and Moon What did Nasa achieve last time it visited the Moon? Apollo 17, in December 1972, involved…
The changing shade of the Greens
How pleasant it is to watch an idea fall apart. Especially when it is an idea held by people you…
Letters
Overhaul the GMC Sir: Max Pemberton’s cogent criticism of the GMC (‘Unfit for purpose’, 20 August). is one of the…
Could Macron trigger British blackouts?
‘We are living the end of an era of abundance,’ according to Emmanuel Macron, ‘the end of the abundance of…
How high will energy prices go?
When dozens of energy companies started going bust in 2021, the government knew it had a crisis on its hands.…
The realpolitik of Saudi oil profits and that infamous fist-bump
How outraged should we be that Saudi Aramco has reported a world-record quarterly profit of $48 billion, representing a giant…
Can Zelensky afford to freeze Ukraine’s gas prices?
This morning, Volodymyr Zelensky signed a moratorium on energy prices – so while gas bills are rising all over Europe,…
Britain is a vetocracy
England is in the grip of its most widespread drought in 20 years. Water companies are implementing hosepipe bans. Half…
Portrait of the week
Home Energy bills will be £4,266 for a typical household by January, according to the consultancy Cornwall Insight, which had…
Europe’s looming energy wars
This summer marks a truce. But if, as expected, Liz Truss becomes prime minister, it is almost inevitable that tensions…
Rationing and blackouts are a possibility this winter
The debate about energy in the UK has largely concentrated on just how high prices will go. This is understandable…
Letters
Injured party Sir: Prue Leith’s short interlude as a Conservative party member and subsequent resignation underlines a feature of the…
Why Centrica is right to restore its dividend
‘What’s worse, they’re paying the profits to shareholders,’ said a grey-haired woman ahead of me in the Co-op queue. ‘Bloody…
An autumn of discontent
One influential figure on the centre-left told me recently that he isn’t bothered about who wins the Tory leadership contest.…
Power struggles
During the eurozone crisis, southern European states had to go cap in hand to Germany to stave off national bankruptcy.…
Portrait of the week
Home In a television debate between the two contenders for the leadership of the Conservative party (and hence the prime…
The new PM’s growing to-do list
In theory, the Conservative leadership contest could have stretched to the autumn, but the 1922 Committee and CCHQ decided to…
