Have the energy companies damaged Brown’s hopes even further?

Could the news that the Government won’t give cash handouts to those struggling with rising energy bills be another nail in the coffin of Brown’s premiership? The spin he’s putting on it is that there were never plans to offer “short term gimmicks and giveaways”. But the widespread assumption is that the opposite is true, and that the energy companies – rightly fearful of a windfall tax – blocked Brown’s designs.

Now the PM’s peddling the message that “long term efficiency” is the solution to people’s energy problems; i.e. that homes should be made more energy efficient, thereby – in Brown’s words – “reducing bills not just temporarily, but permanently”. Long term solutions? After all the hype about an “economic recovery package”, things are fizzling out even more dramatically than we might have expected.

And there’s worse for our Dear Leader. The left of the party is said to be incensed by the announcement, and are minded to cause trouble over it.