In The Pipeline

Plans are afoot in the United States to sanction companies that participated in the construction of Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline between Vyborg in Russia and Greifswald in Germany that both countries want and for which neither of them is asking anyone else to pay. I am tempted to suggest that we express our solidarity by asking for it to be extended along Germany's short northern tip and then across the North Sea to Britain.

But no, the backbone of our own "all of the above" energy policy needs to be civil nuclear power and the exploitation of Britain's vast reverses of coal, returning to our position before the Miners' Strike as the world leader in clean coal technology. Around that would be built wind power, wave power, tidal power, solar power, and so on.

The electricity thus generated would power the trains that, like the wind turbines, were made of the steel that the coal had made it possible to smelt. Those trains' tracks would also be made of that steel. As would be the electric cars. That is the argument for electric cars: we can run them on our own electricity, not on imported oil. 

The car plants might not be in public ownership, although they would be subsided as they are now, let the likes of Nissan take note. But the mines, the power stations, and all the rest would be in public ownership, as would be both the trains and the tracks. All of them would be well and truly protected, and of course that would depend on being outside the European Single Market and the Customs Union.

Another hung Parliament is coming, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. It has become a local commonplace that I am on 30-30-30 with Labour and the Conservatives here at North West Durham, so that any one of us could be the First Past the Post.I will stand for this seat, if I can raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.