Britain is not prepared for winter blackouts

Britain has a bold new plan for dealing with a winter energy crisis: ‘hope for good weather’. It’s hard to see what else is on offer; nobody seems to be seriously discussing what the government can do to secure energy supplies through the winter, how households will heat their homes, and whether we should rescue businesses driven to bankruptcy by soaring energy prices. The state is braindead until Boris Johnson finally departs. His potential successors are engaged in hard-hitting discussions over whether it’s possible to hold a budget without OBR forecasts, or whether tax cuts will drive inflation higher.

Meanwhile, natural gas prices are soaring as the Nord Stream pipeline prepares for another maintenance shutdown, and Putin toys with the threat of shutting down supply to Europe. Britain’s plan for getting through the winter without blackouts – ‘import electricity from Europe’ – is in tatters. The National Grid has based its plans on being able to import 5.7