Britain: The Cold Man of Europe

The UK takes hardly any gas from Russia. In spite of this, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the energy crisis is hitting UK household budgets harder than in any other Western European country. The IMF also opines that costs between poor and rich UK households are strikingly unequal. The reasons for the UK's poor position in these respects, are its poorly-insulated homes and its current heavy reliance on gas to heat homes and produce electricity. (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/sep/01/energy-crisis-uk-households-worst-hit-in-western-europe-finds-imf). Gas, even that obtained 'locally' from the North Sea, has an 'international' price. Getting more gas from new North Sea prospecting or UK fracking, will certainly not drive down local prices. They will also drive up 'greenhouse gas' emissions. The UK's outgoing PM says ' it's madness not to build' a new £700m nuclear plant at Sizewell C (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/01/boris-johnson-takes-jibe-at-liz-truss-plans-for-fracking-and-north-sea-drilling). A nuclear plant, however, takes much too long to bring on line, as well as leaving the builders with safety and disposal problems. Experts all agree that the UK needs a rapid, large scale insulation programme and faster roll out of wind and solar energy. Simples!