Three C-17 Globemasters. Eight shipping containers. The first nuclear reactor in history to be moved by air. While it feels like the opening of one of those special-forces slop series on Amazon that I count as one of my guiltiest pleasures, this is the very real Operation Windlord. The operation, conducted by the US Air […]
At its peak, Britain was known as the workshop of the world. Sheffield produced high-quality steel, Manchester still had a strong textiles sector and the West Midlands was world-renowned for its cars. Glasgow, Sunderland and Newcastle were shipbuilding hubs, Stoke-on-Trent produced ceramics. Cities around Britain provided steady employment for skilled tradespeople, keeping communities together and […]
After nearly two decades of weak growth, stagnant wages and stubbornly high inequality – alongside one of the worst productivity records in the developed world since the financial crisis – Britain’s central problem is how to get the economy growing again. We don’t build enough homes. We don’t generate enough cheap energy. We don’t invest […]
Is that it? After rumours of a big change in electricity policy coming (with frothy excitement in energy geek land), Ed Miliband this week lifted the curtain. The headline from the Government comms machine was ‘decisive action’ to ‘break the link between gas and electricity prices’. And yet the reality was uninspiring, underbaked and unambitious. […]
The war in Iran has brought into sharp focus a central challenge for UK energy policy: how to deliver the green transition while maintaining energy security and ensuring that costs remain affordable for households and businesses. Getting this balance right is now critical not just for energy policy but for the UK’s economic performance. In […]
Amid war in the Middle East and a country faltering thanks to years of failed policies, a deeply unpopular Prime Minister insisted that Britain had strong energy security, despite warnings from experts that blackouts were a very real possibility. In October 1973, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced an oil embargo that […]
If the title Baron Walker of Broxton leaves you blank, let me help: Richard Walker is executive chairman of the frozen food retailer Iceland, succeeding his father Sir Malcolm Walker, the company’s founder, in 2023. He was on the Conservative Party’s approved list of parliamentary candidates, then resigned in October 2023 because the party had […]
In 2020, the European Union launched its Green Deal. Six years later, investments in hydrogen-based projects have collapsed, and electricity prices are twice as high as in the US and China. Europe is losing its competitive edge. In our research for the Institute of Economic Affairs, we identify eight reasons why the EU Green Deal […]
Although it is early days, it does now look as if a cyclical recovery is starting in the UK economy. The best evidence is the recovery in retail sales from its six-year post-Covid slump. Since consumer spending is around 60% of GDP, a consumer recovery is critical to getting GDP rising. The recovery is also […]
Britain’s energy market is so dysfunctional that to even call it a market at all is something of a misnomer. It is so distorted by state intervention that there is very little left of it that could be described as ‘free’. Whereas Nigel Lawson envisioned an energy market beyond the remit of government, Ed Miliband […]
The North Sea has brought economic prosperity to Scotland for centuries, from providing bountiful herring that ushered in the ‘silver darlings’ era of Scottish fishing, to producing oil and gas that has powered Britain for decades. But today the communities that rely on the North Sea are in crisis. Oil and gas production is declining […]
Poverty was once the norm. A quarter of babies died in their first year of life. In 1980, around 40% of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Today only 10% of people do. Much of this is thanks to fossil fuels. The burning of wood, then coal, gas and oil, enabled us to prosper. […]
British businesses have faced numerous challenges over the past few years, not least extortionate energy bills. According to the International Energy Agency, the UK has had the highest non-domestic energy prices of any member state, creating a significant barrier to growth and investment. What’s more, the government has imposed additional regulatory costs on businesses, such […]
Subsidies create distortions. They alter the natural balance of supply, demand and fair competition in the marketplace. The Government’s Net Zero target has resulted in millions of pounds of taxpayer money being spent on subsidising ‘green’ projects, and, unsurprisingly, the distortionary effects are enormous. In some cases, the subsidies are not simply distortionary, but they […]
Last week, the Government announced the results of Allocation Round 7 (AR7) – record-breaking subsidies for renewable energy stretching 20 years into the future. ‘Clean, homegrown, power is the right choice for this country to bring down bills for good’, chimed Ed Miliband, the Net Zero Secretary, claiming that AR7 prices were 40% cheaper than […]
Soaring energy bills for households and industry continue to keep inflation high and create a straitjacket for growth. Labour’s arbitrary and unnecessary 2030 Clean Power Target continues to undermine the urgent mission to cut bills. And this has been laid bare yet again today. Some might have hoped that the seventh allocation round (AR7) for […]
