Coal-fired power stations taken out of mothballs .. oh Net Zero!

 

It’s only Monday morning, it’s only the start to another week and my blood is already boiling. Our sanctimonious Westminster MSM are in full spate about the erstwhile PM Johnson visiting his ‘friend’ in Kiev and lambasting ‘Tory sleaze’.

Just look at the photos of Johnson plastered across the front pages of the dead tree press in the usual place (link)! Scroll down a bit until you hit the Grauniad: he looks like a low-level local council pen pusher. For light relief there’s today’s The Time’s cartoon on that ‘trip’.

In case you missed it, this is all about pressurising or rather: shaming Germany into handing over their Leopard battle tanks. We’re gonna do it so why shouldn’t they! According to the DT, the “Former PM says ‘this is the moment to double down and to give the Ukrainians all the tools they need’ as he visits Kyiv” (paywalled link) while the DT’s heavyweight political columnist Simon Heffer penned a short piece with the headline “Germany will never get over the shame of its cowardice on Ukraine – This is no time for Germany to indulge in self-interested gutlessness” (paywalled link). Crikey – how times do change: shamed for kicking off WWI and WWII and now ‘shamed’ for trying not to get involved in a possible WWIII … 

There is another way of looking at this ‘give us your tanks’ outcry. The Times, reporting on that Johnson visit, points out that 

“Johnson’s trip comes amid renewed scrutiny of his financial arrangements when he was in No 10. Labour has called for an investigation into the arrangement of an £800,000 loan guarantee involving Richard Sharp, a Tory donor. Sharp allegedly helped arrange the credit facility just weeks before the former Goldman Sachs banker was recommended for the role of BBC chairman by Johnson. Sharp, who was also previously an economic adviser to Rishi Sunak, has denied any conflict of interest.” (link, paywalled)

It’s reminiscent of ye olden times when kings went to war, under great hullaballoo, whenever an internal crisis over money and government scandal was on the cards. Nothing new under the sun, is there! 

There’s another news item in The Times which surely ought to have been known to the writers of the DT, especially their Mr Heffer (this and the following emphases are mine): 

“Ben Wallace has condemned the “hollowing out” of the military after decades of underfunding in a stark warning to the Treasury before the budget. The defence secretary said the army was unable to field a war fighting division of just 10,000 troops.” (link, paywalled)

That isn’t all by a long chalk – next see this:

“A report by the National Audit Office last year found that a significant number of MoD projects, including the Type 32 frigate programme and the construction of multi-role support ships, had been left unfunded. A Treasury source said negotiations over the defence budget would require a “long dialogue”, adding that they were “nowhere near a conclusion”. “It will come down to what we can afford,” the source said.” (link, paywalled)

Delicious, isn’t it:  when it comes to the question ‘do you want more money for the NHS or for the Armed Forces’, we can surmise what the well-nudged British public will demand, especially since the NHS strikes are still ongoing. The actual situation is even worse:

“A series of procurement scandals have left military experts questioning whether the British army would be able to mobilise a division in the event of a European war. General Sir Patrick Sanders, chief of the general staff, said last week the UK’s obligations to Nato were at risk after the donation of just 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.” (link, paywalled)

And that’s why Westminster is trying to ‘shame’ the Krauts into handing over their hardware, because, actually, we ourselves have hardly anything left. Ben Wallace and his chief of staff Radakin went begging to Sunak last month, pleading:

“[…] for extra investment in the armed forces amid a long-term decline in spending as a proportion of GDP. In the 1950s, defence spending was more than seven per cent of GDP, but it hovers just above two per cent now. Healthcare spending was three per cent in the 1950s and is now 12 per cent. “We’re trying to live off a peacetime budget even though we’re heading towards ever greater conflict,” Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, said. “The operational commitments we are making are now overstretching the armed forces.” (link, paywalled)

Well, that’s what happens when warmongers hand out our hardware which cannot be replaced while others are already discerning an ‘even greater conflict’. Still we do ‘rejoice’, do we not, in having an erstwhile PM, strutting about on the international stage, warmongering and promising stuff he’s not able to deliver. 

Meanwhile there’s ‘news’ from another ‘front’ – the ‘weather front’. It’s gonna be cold and will get colder next month. Here’s a surprise:

“WFH workers rush back to the office to stay warm and cut down on energy costs as temperatures plunge to -8C and ‘freezing fog’ affects visibility this morning – with meteorologists warning another Beast from the East will blast into UK next month” (link)

What a clever lot those WFH ‘workers’ are! Still, they’ll have to go home after working in their warm offices – heating paid for by us tax payers. THelp is at hand though, to prevent blackouts

“[National Grid] is expected to pay more than £1 million to households and businesses to reduce usage between 5pm and 6pm, amid fears of a supply shortage as the cold weather leads to higher energy demand. It is the first time it has activated its new “demand flexibility service” because of security of supply concerns this winter. National Grid has also instructed two coal-fired power units at the Drax power station in North Yorkshire and one at the West Burton A plant in Nottinghamshire to warm up ready to generate in case they are needed today. It is the first time it has put so many of the back-up coal plants on standby.” (link, paywalled)

Presumably, WFH ‘workers’ will still be stuck in traffic coming home from their warm offices, so they won’t be able to put their kettles on at 5pm but never mind: it’s all ‘precautionary’, or, according to National Grid spokespeople, about staying flexible and giving customers a ‘choice’. I loved this innocent remark:

“​​How much households can earn will depend on their supplier and how much power they would normally use, but some could earn around £10 for the session, for example.” (paywalled link)

Which planet are these people living on, that they describe this scheme as being a little earner for customers! Instead of fulfilling their obligation to customers, of providing uninterrupted supply of electricity for which they bill said customers, they are covering their failings by promising ‘money’ – money which will come out of the pockets of other customers – and describe this as ’earnings’! You couldn’t make it up.

That’s all I have for today. It’s quite sufficient for inciting righteous anger first thing in the morning. At least that’ll keep us warm, as will tidying up the shards of all those mugs and cups thrown against one’s living room walls. Have a good, warm day!



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