There was a very big hole in the Chancellor John Healey’s claim yesterday that he is going to generate a new age of industry. Why would anyone want to open a factory, or any other kind of industrial plant, in Britain when they would be paying far more for their energy than in other countries?

Neither GB Grid nor shifting subsidies onto general taxation does anything to deal with the fundamental problem

Neither GB Grid nor shifting subsidies onto general taxation does anything to deal with the fundamental problem

UK non-domestic customers paid an average of 26.63 pence per kilowatt-hour for their electricity in 2024, more than any other member state of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and 60 per cent more than the IEA (International Energy Agency) average. It is little wonder that our chemical plants, oil refineries and many other industries are rapidly leaving our shores in the search for cheaper power.

But worry not, the government has a plan, or two plans. Energy security secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh wants to shift many of the costs of what the government likes to call the ‘green transition’ away from energy bills and onto general taxation, while Andy Burnham is expected to announce a new state-owned entity called GB Grid which will invest public money in the electricity grid. Will any of that work?

What Fahnbulleh is proposing is an extension of what Rachel Reeves did last year, when she removed £150 a year worth of........

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