UKScunthorpe crisisThe UK’s last blast furnace appeared to be on the brink of closure. Nationalisation was mooted, and with the owners refusing to buy new supplies of coking coal, Ed Miliband was forced to buy in supplies from overseas, a humiliation for the Secretary of State after he had noisily shut down a planned coking coal mine in Cumbria. Just before we went to press, Parliament was recalled to discuss the crisis. ZEV panicWith the motor manufacturing industry also facing meltdown, Ed Miliband made minor concessions, removing luxury sportscars from the Zero Emissions mandate, and allowing hybrids to continue to be sold until 2035. Few thought this would make much difference. On GB News, GWPF’s Harry Wilkinson was highly critical of the weak response. Rebel without a futureGreen energy supplier Rebel Energy went bust. Over 80,000 customers will be moved to a new supplier. Competition in the retail market is eroded still further. More than we can OffordThe House of Lords debated the cost of Net Zero, a debate sponsored by the Conservative opposition. The opening speech by their spokesman, Lord Offord, went viral on YouTube. A shadow minister in the Commons reiterated, with admirable clarity, that Net Zero by 2050 is no longer Tory policy. Met Office mysteryDaily Sceptic reported that many of the weather stations used in compiling national temperature statistics have long since closed. The source of the numbers published as ‘data’ remains a mystery. Subsidy milestonePayments under the Contracts for Difference subsidy scheme passed the £10 billion mark since its institution in 2016. The cost is running at over £2 billion per year, and is expected to rise in future.
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