USELESS!

White Van Man sums up this loopy Labour Government

In a rare moment of clarity, the stars aligned this week to shine a light on the absurdity of UK energy policy. Each enlightening event, taken in isolation, was maddening. But together, they reveal that UK energy policy may as well have been developed in the library of a lunatic asylum.

First came the announcement that the apocalyptic climate models - RCP8.5/SSP5-8.5 and SSP3-7.0 - had been officially debunked as nonsense by the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These duff models were used to fuel horror headlines from the Greens, with click-chasing newspapers endlessly promoting their end-is-nigh narrative. They were known to be junk in 2017, yet it has taken the IPCC nearly ten years to acknowledge that fact, long after they became embedded in government policy and cost taxpayers billions through Net Zero mania.

It is worth remembering that all models are wrong; some are useful, but others underpin costly mistakes, such as the UK’s COVID response. Scotland needs politicians with the brains to challenge models. Any fool can cheerlead for them.

Oblivious to the changing climate facts, UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband ploughed on with his Energy Independence Bill. In the King’s Speech, our Minister for the Dark Ages solemnly pledged to “take control of our energy security” by making it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea! How did King Charles keep a straight face?

Meanwhile, 365 miles from Scotland, the laughter of the Norwegians could be heard over the waves. They are reopening gas fields they closed 40 years ago in order to supply the UK. It is the same fields and the same gas that already exist in Scottish waters; we will simply be paying them a premium for it. Even after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Westminster still has not got the memo that energy security matters. Scotland needs a true Independence Bill to free itself from Westminster’s madness.

While debate raged in the House of Commons over the “complete whacko’s” Energy Bill, Keir Starmer announced that the UK had relaxed the importation of aviation fuel and diesel sourced from Russia via refineries in India. This is the same stuff that Scotland used to produce independently at the Grangemouth refinery, until Labour taxed it out of existence. So, while the UK spends billions arming Ukraine, this Labour Government is also bankrolling the Russian state.

Before easing sanctions on Russia, it would make a tad more sense to ease sanctions on the North Sea oil and gas industry. Bloomberg’s top energy analyst, Javier Blas, says that European governments are learning the hard way “why letting their national oil refining capacity close was a mistake”. Where is the campaign to reopen Grangemouth and restore genuine energy independence? Time for Stephen Flynn to fly.

All this time, the Chinese economy is bumping along quite nicely on coal. While our Greens destroy the natural environment of the Firth of Forth with Eiffel Tower-sized windmills, China is burning 5,000 million metric tons of coal every year. If wind power were cheaper than coal, you can be sure the wily Chinese would be keeping their monster wind systems and sending us the coal instead. There is, however, a mug in every market, and our political class just loves the chance to climate-pose on the public purse.

Finally, with expert timing, Keir Starmer apparently thought it was a good moment to remind us that the UK has the highest energy costs in the developed world by announcing a duty freeze at the pump. Not a duty cut - a freeze on the 55% of tax already charged. The falling star of Rachel Reeves then predictably collided with the black hole of public opinion: White Van Man. He was raging and let the Labour Chancellor have both barrels shouting “USELESS” at her. Who could put it better?