So, does a 60% increase in the cost of power at source imply a consequent 60% increase for the consumer? I.E. 39 p/kWh instead of 24p/kWh? So, £256 a month instead of £160!
Top marks Andrew. Your latest breakdown of the recent renewable energy subsidy auction (AR6) reveals a glaring truth: the cost of Miliband's push for more renewable energy isn’t as green or cost-effective as Labour would have us believe. The numbers don’t lie, even if the politicians try to spin them.
The idea behind Contracts for Difference (CfDs) was simple enough: incentivise renewable energy by guaranteeing prices for electricity generated, thus providing certainty for investors. However, the latest auction exposes a fundamental flaw in this approach. Last year’s auction (AR5) drew no bids for new offshore wind capacity because the business sector demanded higher subsidies—essentially, higher guaranteed prices. Faced with this market reality, both the Tories and Labour caved. The Tories increased the budget, and Miliband went even further, raising it to unprecedented levels.
And what do we have to show for it? Up to 5GW of new offshore wind capacity, but at a cost. To secure these bids, the government had to agree to a massive rise in guaranteed prices for wind turbine operators. The budget for AR6 was set at a staggering £1.555 billion, the most expensive auction to date, with an ultimate cost to consumers and taxpayers estimated to be around £10 billion. That’s £10 billion coming out of the pockets of ordinary Britons, all for the promise of more “affordable” energy in the future.
Let’s be clear: “more renewables = lower energy prices” is a myth that this auction has thoroughly debunked. The guaranteed price for electricity from this new offshore wind capacity stands at £82/MWh at current prices—almost 60% higher than the previous relevant auction. If this is what Miliband calls “fixing” things, one has to wonder what Labour’s definition of affordability really is.
The truth is that the rush towards renewables, while admirable in its intent, is being mishandled. Instead of creating a balanced and sustainable path towards a greener future, we're seeing a reckless push that disregards market realities and imposes hefty costs on consumers. Miliband’s approach is less about thoughtful policy and more about ideological posturing, with everyday Britons left footing the bill.
The renewable revolution should be about innovation and efficiency, not about throwing money at the problem and hoping it sticks. Andrew Neil’s analysis shows us that without proper oversight and a realistic understanding of market dynamics, we’re not “fixing” things at all. We’re simply paying more for less.
@gigsandtours I bought tickets for the Foo Fighters for this Saturday 22nd and despite getting a notification email and many attempts to access them they're still not visible in the SeeTickets app. It's rubbish! Where are my tickets!
Morning Happy fathers day to all the dads. Its when you don't have your dad around days like today you try and remember the quality time you had with your dad. Today give your dad or the father figure in your life a quality day to remember. The Luther Vandross song I never get tired of hearing
https://t.co/74PBLAxML6
@PlotACourse@Iyervval Having your neck broken is instantaneous. Being slowly choked to death takes minutes. The thicker and stronger your neck, the longer it takes.
OMG!!!
At last this is the must watch video!!
Every MP & person in power needs to know that they can’t lie to us anymore - the elite knew what they were doing & they let it happen!
Please 🙏🏼 please repost this, it needs to be seen & heard! 🏴🇬🇧
@misspaulalondon@daveatherton Doesn't matter whether the speed limit applies or not.
He knocked her down and killedher.
If he'd done it with his fists or a baseball bat, he'd be prosecuted. So try him for manslaughter.
Started reading this and thought, "Yes, absolutely, Trump should never get back in the Oval office", then realised this delusional idiot was talking about Biden! Unbelievable! If the rest of the World had a vote Biden would get 99%+ and Trump <1%. But, you vote for Putin's puppet
I am desperately trying to wrap my brain around how our country was suckered into allowing one mentally unstable, grifting, womanizing, incompetent, criminal to turn our Democracy on its head. What’s even more brain wrenching is how many people just like him are in our government. I’m afraid that for decades we have enjoyed our freedoms and way of life, and have let our guard down and let the enemy infiltrate our government. It is terrifying to say the least to see how many of our citizens follow this EXTREMELY DANGEROUS pied piper over the cliff. America, WE MUST RECTIFY THIS IN NOVEMBER. Absolutely NO ONE should be staying home and leaving their responsibility to someone else. VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE.
Nate White, a British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:
“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”
A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”